Neil Lennon couldn’t contain his enthusiasm after his side twice battled back to earn a 2-2 draw with Rangers.
Despite playing for half an hour with a man less Celtic dominated the match and always looked the likelier winner.
Kris Commons and Scott Brown were on target for the visitors with Lennon delighted by the qualities that his side showed to earn a replay.
“I thought we were absolutely brilliant,” the Celtic boss beamed. “Every one of the players.
“We had to overcame a few setbacks but played with no fear and played the way we wanted them to play. They set their stall out in the second half and played wonderfully well. My players all showed a lot of character and belief, scored two goals and created lots of chances.
“We knew at half-time that Rangers would sit it in and try to counter-attack and that would be our only danger.
“At half-time I said to them that there was no point in playing well and losing and that people don’t remember the losers in Old Firm games.
“We controlled the game even when they had the penalty we were the dominant side and to come here and control the game is very pleasing.
“The amount of chances we created and some of the football we played was top class.”
Rangers opened the scoring with a wonder goal from Jamie Ness and struck the bar in the first five minutes but after that Celtic began to dominate.
A strong midfield four gave the visitors a stranglehold in the match with Commons tucked in behind Gary Hooper.
New bhoy Commons levelled the scores in the 15th minute when he timed his run perfectly to drive a Joe Ledley cut-back past Allan McGregor.
Before the interval Celtic looked in deep trouble when Fraser Forster was red carded with substitute Lucasz Zalusk’s first task picking the ball out of the net from Steven Whittaker’s penalty.
The second half was virtually one way traffic towards McGregor’s goal but it took a great curling shot from Scott Brown to level the scores in the 64th minute.
Two minutes later Rangers were inches away from going back in front when Nikica Jelavic sent a pass acros goal that was just out of range for Davis.
McGregor’s face prevented substitute Georgios Samaras from increasing Celtic’s lead from a close range header in the 71st minute.
Steven Niasmith was red carded in the 75th minute but despite having the bulk of possession Celtic had to settle for a draw and a replay back at Celtic Park on March 2.
“These are the fixtures you want to play in if you are involved in the Old Firm,” Lennon added. “These are the games that define you and I will take a helluva lot of pleasure from the way my team played. I am very proud of them.
“They were brave on the ball, brave in the tackle, worked tremendously hard and when were down to 10 men we were the better team.
“To come here and have as much dominance and possession as we had, even when were a man down, is testament to the players and the progress we have made.
“The players are trying to set themselves standards – not just for this season but for years to come.
“We will take a lot of positives from the game today but every Old Firm game is different.”
Kris Commons- there’s a winning mentality here
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