Andrew Dickson reports from Ibrox

RANGERS moved six points clear in the race to the SPL title as they notched a record fourth successive win over Celtic without conceding a goal.

Kevin Thomson made the difference with first goal for the club on the stroke of half-time to give his side a great advantage just nine games from the championship's climax.

Gary Caldwell and Georgios Samaras had taunted Gers prior to the game, with one saying Celts were the better team and the other vowing to score at Ibrox.

After responding with a dignified silence, the Light Blues did their talking on the pitch to make it five matches without defeat against their Old Firm rivals.

With a game in hand over their closest challengers, Walter Smith's men are now clear favourites to win their 52nd title at the end of the season.

Rangers went into this fixture off the back of 12 consecutive league wins and as a result, Smith's only change was an enforced one.

Sasa Papac, who had been struggling with a virus before kick-off, failed to recover in time and Steven Whittaker was selected as his replacement.

Celtic arrived in Govan desperately needing a win to reignite any hopes they have of retaining the league trophy.

As such, their manager Gordon Strachan deployed two strikers up front in the shape of Samaras and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The visitors' tactics allowed them to create a string of good opportunities before the break, with Scott Brown having the best of them.

But they lacked a ruthless streak and it was Rangers who led at the interval thanks to Thomson's goal seconds before the half-time whistle.

Play raged from end to end in the opening stages, with Vennegoor of Hesselink and Shunsuke Nakamura going close for Celtic and Lee McCulloch doing the same for Gers.

Although none of them could find the target, the Parkhead outfit soon started to with great regularity.

Samaras signalled their intent with a low strike from distance which was easily gathered by Allan McGregor.

But the keeper had to react quickly to stop Brown from breaking the deadlock after he was put in on goal with an excellent slide pass by the Greek striker.

McGregor carried the ball over the line as he pounced on the rebound and a corner should have been given by referee Stuart Dougal.

When Vennegoor of Hesselink complained after it wasn't, he became the first of four players to receive first-half bookings.

Stephen McManus, Thomson and Christian Dailly were the other three, with the former being cautioned for a cynical foul on Jean-Claude Darcheville.

Rangers had opportunities through Carlos Cuellar and Barry Ferguson but neither could break the deadlock.

It seemed that might prove costly as the midway point approached, with Brown striking the outside of the post then standing on the ball when he was in on goal.

But then, almost from nowhere, Rangers took a dramatic lead through Thomson, a scorer just three times in his career previously for Hibernian and twice against Celtic.

He received the ball from Ferguson and played it in to Darcheville, who held up play brilliantly under pressure from McManus.

The Frenchman then turned a cute pass back on to Thomson and after a touch to control, he slid under Artur Boruc to spark bedlam amongst the home support.

Going behind in the manner they did clearly affected Celtic at the start of second half and armed with their advantage, the hosts played with more confidence.

Steven Davis played in Ferguson and he tried his luck, with a deflection off Caldwell doing enough to take the ball past the post instead of into the net.

Back came Celtic, with McGregor superbly tipping Andreas Hinkel's rising 30-yard drive over his crossbar.

McManus was fortunate to stay on the park when he clearly obstructed Darcheville, as was Naylor who, having been booked for a foul on Broadfoot, then chopped down Davis.

As is the way of things, Darcheville was replaced as the final quarter began with Novo, a scorer twice in the last Old Firm fixture last October when Rangers won 3-0.

But he never made much impact, with Rangers sitting deeper as time ticked on and Celtic having more possession.

Thomson looked to have won a free kick when he fell under Samaras' challenge as he tried to cut into the box.

While nothing was given, the fact he remained on the ground for four minutes before being stretchered off was of far greater concern.

Charlie Adam replaced him, with Strachan throwing on Scott McDonald for Hesselink then Barry Robson for Paul Hartley as the away side chased a leveller.

Brown and Naismith traded bookings before Novo had a go from distance, with Boruc holding his effort easily enough.

The Pole had to work harder when McCulloch threaded Novo in again and he did well to beat the little Spaniard to the ball.

Rangers were trying to kill the game off and turned the screw a little more and Novo's fantastic pass set up Adam.

Boruc denied him with a great stop but it didn't matter and when Dougal blew for full-time, Smith's men had made it a lucky 13 victories consecutively in the SPL.

RANGERS: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Cuellar, Whittaker, Davis (Naismith 79), Ferguson, Dailly, Thomson (Adam 77), McCulloch, Darcheville (Novo 67).

Subs not used: Alexander, Boyd, Furman, McMillan.

CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel, McManus, Caldwell, Naylor, Nakamura, S. Brown, Hartley (Robson 80), McGeady, Samaras, Vennegoor of Hesselink (McDonald 78).

Subs not used: M. Brown, Wilson, Sno, Donati, O'Dea.

Referee: Stuart Dougal.