Kevin Thomson's first goal for Rangers was enough to earn a 1-0 win over Celtic that leaves the Ibrox giants on the brink of reclaiming the Scottish Premier League title from their arch rival. Former Hibs midfielder Thomson secured his new club's fourth successive Old Firm win a minute before half-time, exchanging passes with striker Jean-Claude Darcheville before sliding a low finish past Artur Boruc in the Celtic goal. The win extended Rangers' lead at the top of the table to six points and, with the benefit of a game in hand, manager Walter Smith looks destined to secure the SPL trophy in his first full season since he returned to the club in the middle of last season. Rangers, who have now won 13 consecutive matches in the league, have already secured the League Cup this season and are on track to complete a domestic treble as well as having reached the last eight of the UEFA Cup, in which they will face Sporting Lisbon next week. For the second Old Firm contest of the campaign, Rangers were close to full strength with Barry Ferguson, Allan McGregor, Christian Dailly and Lee McCulloch all returning from injury after sitting out Scotland's midweek friendly draw with Croatia. Celtic manager Gordon Strachan opted to leave top scorer Scott McDonald on the bench until ten minutes from time - a gamble that backfired given the limited impact made by the combination of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras. Vennegoor of Hesselink's crude challenge on David Weir set the tone for some typically frantic opening exchanges, during which the Dutchman knocked an Aiden McGeady cross narrowly wide. At the other end, McCulloch headed a Thomson free-kick off target but Celtic was first to seriously threaten, Scott Brown's shot from a tight angle coming off the outside of the post. Gradually Rangers started to dominate however and their pressure paid off as the half-time whistle approached. Driving into the box in typical fashion, Thomson played a one-two with Darcheville and kept his nerve to squeeze his shot past the sprawling Boruc. From then on, Rangers were able to control proceedings and it was clear it would take something special for Celtic to conjure up an equalizer. Andreas Hinkel almost did that in the 64th minute, unleashing a 30-yard drive which forced McGregor into a superb save diving to his left. Rangers suffered a blow when Thomson was stretchered off with quarter of an hour left after tumbling on the edge of the box in response to what appeared to be the lightest of touches from Samaras. Thomson's replacement was Charlie Adam and the midfielder should have made it 2-0 in the closing seconds after being sent clear by a fine pass from fellow substitute Nacho Novo. Adam opted for power with his finish and his drive was brilliantly blocked by Boruc. Own goal guidelines UEFA has laid down formal guidelines to determine an own goal in matches it organizes, European soccer's governing body said on Friday. “There has been a lot of debate over deflected goals and whether they should be awarded to the player who originally shot at goal or the player who got the last touch,” president Michel Platini told reporters. “We want to clear the issue up and have the same rules at every match.” Platini said referees would be told to award a goal to the player who intended to score, provided the ball was already heading toward the net when the deflection occurred. Off-target shots diverted into the net will be attributed to the player who deflects the ball. Platini acknowledged the guidelines were already being observed informally by most referees but it would be formally “codified” immediately for Champions League, UEFA Cup and international matches it organizes. The 2010 Champions League final, meanwhile, will take place in Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium. UEFA's executive committee also decided Friday that the 2010 UEFA Cup final will be held in the Hamburg Arena, Germany, and Monaco will host the 2009, 2010 and 2011 UEFA Super Cups. Madrid's 80,000-seat arena faced opposition from London's Wembley – and also from Berlin's Olympiastadion, Bayern Munich's Arena and Valencia's Mestalla – for the right to host the 2010 and 2011 Champions League final. Madrid won over Wembley because UEFA said British tax laws are too harmful to players. “Taxes were absolutely the reason why Wembley was not chosen,” UEFA president Michael Platini said at a news conference after the meeting. The tax issue was why UEFA decided not to award the 2011 Champions League and UEFA Cup finals Friday as scheduled. UEFA will reopen the entire bidding process for 2011 and make a decision on both 2011 and 2012 in autumn, in the hope that British officials can resolve the tax issue before then. __
