Rangers and Celtic played out a thrilling 3-3 Old Firm draw as the title race stayed neck-and-neck at Ibrox.

Here are the big talking points dissected.

Rangers take a point in a six-goal thriller

Rangers returned to the home dressing room with a chorus of boos ringing in their ears. They were 2-0 down and fortunate that Celtic weren’t further ahead. This was the most abject 45 minutes of the Clement era. It was inexplicable, inexcusable as Celtic dominated the possession and the chances. Maeda was lucky to see the ball find the net inside the first minute but O’Riley showed class and composure to dink his penalty beyond Jack Butland. They were qualities that Rangers did not possess in any area of the team as Joe Hart – who Connor Goldson should have beaten with a header – saved from Fabio Silva just before the whistle. That was all Rangers created in a dreadful first half. The lifeline arrived from the penalty spot after Silva was fouled and Tavernier converted. Cyriel Dessers thought he had completed the comeback but a foul earlier in the move was spotted by a VAR check and Rangers remained in arrears heading into the final half an hour. As time ticked away, hope faded. Rangers needed a hero. With five minutes left, Sima rose to the occasion as he rifled home after the ball broke to him inside the area. Idah thought he had won it for Celtic before Matondo curled home an injury-time leveller. The spoils were shared on a remarkable afternoon.

Chris Jack

Tavernier's error set the tone

The atmosphere was killed within 21 seconds. Rangers shot themselves in the foot and only had themselves to blame. More specifically, Tavernier had to take the blame. A player of his experience and position cannot make mistakes as basic as this. A clearance from Joe Hart should have been harmless but within seconds the ball was in the net as Tavernier was caught sleeping and Maeda capitalised. There was a slice of luck that the deflected clearance ricocheted into the net, but it was a freak moment that took all of the encouragement and excitement out of Ibrox.

Maeda had the beating of Tavernier time after time down that side. On a day when Rangers needed their captain to produce a performance befitting of the armband and the occasion, the skipper was woeful for most of it. With less than a minute gone, it was already clear it would be one of those days. Tavernier set the tone, and not in a good way.

Chris Jack

Rangers’ first-half approach - and why it failed 

You give yourself little chance in a game like this when conceding a freak goal literally seconds into the game. Rangers’ approach relied on them baiting the Celtic press and playing through or over it - neither came off. The home crowd was given all of 30 match seconds to build momentum. Clement made big calls in starting Lawrence over Cantwell and continuing with Dessers and Silva. Although slightly hamstrung by his options, the balance just did not work. Rangers lacked width to build pressure when Celtic were sat in their shape but didn’t have the poise in possession to break lines and create attacks quickly from the back. When space arose Dessers was easily crowded out by Carter-Vickers and there was no pace in the front line to push back and turn the visiting defence. Beyond anything tactical Celtic’s experience in this fixture was obvious. They rarely made errors in contrast to the home side’s relentless number of turnovers, loose passes and lost duels. Their comfort on the ball was so contrasting. If not for Jack Butland Celtic would’ve been further ahead at the interval. All game Rangers’ play out from the back failed to give them a real platform on the ball.

Joshua Barrie

A day of error but Rangers kept responding

Rangers were nowhere at the start of the second half but after Silva was fouled in the box and a VAR check ruled penalty, Tavernier finished emphatically to breathe hope into the game. The home side through it was 2-2 seconds later after Dessers converted from close range until another trip to the monitor judged that Lawrence committed a foul in the build-up. You got the sense at that point that the visitors needed to build momentum and hit Celtic while they were reeling. The home side were never able to build the momentum they required from that point, however. What will frustrate Clement is even though the first 45 was so poor, Rangers could’ve still grabbed this game. Too many were far too far off it. Goldson, aside from giving away a penalty and missing a golden chance, hit an array of misplaced passes. Lundstram saw much of the game pass him by. Dessers had no material impact on proceedings. Tavernier hit an excellent penalty but never seemed to recover from that key early mistake. Even when Sima handed Rangers a lifeline late on to equalise another disaster was just around the corner. The whole team was culpable as Adam Idah finished all too easily to quickly restore Celtic’s lead. For all of the growth Clement has referenced in this team’s mentality, it was not showing for so long. However when Rabbi Matondo found the top corner to level things up in injury time Ibrox was bouncing again. All things considered for how poor Rangers were and how dire their chances seemed at points, this was a well-won point in a crazy game of football. The never-say-die attitude Clement wants was well on show.

Joshua Barrie