Rangers claim Old Firm win

The otherwise prolific striker had failed to bag a goal against Celtic in 15 previous attempts with both Kilmarnock and Rangers.

But his patience paid off when his strike - along with a superb Charlie Adam free-kick - secured a win over their fiercest rivals, as well as second place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Rangers found themselves under pressure in the opening minutes when Celtic were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out for a David Weir foul on Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Dead-ball specialist Shunsuke Nakamura stepped up, but Alan Hutton did well to block the effort and nod safely into the hands of goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

At the other end, Artur Boruc was called into action to smother a shot from Nacho Novo, who had looked busy from the outset.

Boyd broke the deadlock with 33 minutes gone, finally claiming his first-ever goal against Celtic, and joy and relief were etched all over his face. Novo was the provider with a cheeky chip and even though there was a suspicion of offside, the flag stayed down and Boyd struck a left-footed volley under the body of Boruc and into the back of the net.

The first half ended with the sight of Celtic skipper Neil Lennon taunting the home fans by lifting an imaginary cup as he walked towards the tunnel.

Nakamura should have had the ball in the back of the net for Celtic shortly after the restart, but his shot came off the body of McGregor, before Ugo Ehiogu cleared the danger off the line.

Instead, Rangers added to their lead after 55 minutes. Adam had proved useful with free-kicks on several occasions and it was no surprise to see him step up when Barry Ferguson was felled by Paul Hartley.

What was surprising was his decision to roll the ball low along the ground and into the back of the net, fooling the Celtic wall, who jumped in anticipation of his usual flighted, curling effort.