Steven Gerrard has defended Andy Halliday's reaction to Scott Brown celebrating in front of the Rangers supporters after Sunday's Glasgow derby by insisting "Andy went in to protect his own people – I would have probably done that myself".

Celtic manager Neil Lennon, however, defended Brown after his club's 2-1 win over Rangers at Parkhead, saying what the captain had to endure was "disgraceful". Brown was elbowed in the face by Alfredo Morelos in the first-half, which saw the Colombian striker sent off. Brown was also struck in the face by Ryan Kent - who netted Rangers' equaliser - after James Forrest scored Celtic's winner. Kent went unpunished - so far - and Lennon added: "Our players kept their discipline very well and Rangers should have been down to nine men rather than ten."

The Herald's chief football writer Matthew Lindsay says that Brown could never, even his most ardent supporter would concede, be considered a world-class footballer. But, Lindsay says, is there another player on the planet who is as much of a wind-up merchant as the Celtic captain? 

Gerrard, meanwhile, may have defended Halliday but there was no such luck for Morelos. The Rangers manager admitted: "He’ll be punished. I’ll recommend to the board he’s fined a week’s wages –and that the money should got to the supporters who came today."

Who did you think was Celtic's man of the match yesterday? Brown? Opening scorer Odsonne Edouard? If you want to have a look at our Celtic player ratings from the match, you can do so here.

Who did you think was Rangers' man of the match yesterday? Kent? Halliday? If you want to have a look at our Rangers player ratings from the match , you can do so here. 

Rangers may have lost but defender Joe Worrall says they can be proud of their performance. He said: "It is obviously disappointing to lose the game, I think we were the better team in the second half when we had ten men." 

But one Rangers player The Herald's football editor Neil Cameron says can be anything but proud of himself is, of course, Morelos. Cameron says: "Brown went fishing at Celtic Park and caught himself a right pollock with his very first cast."

Chris Jack says Brown showed a lack of class with his celebrations. Jack says: "He shouldn’t be milking it in front of the away fans like he was within seconds of full-time."

After the weekend's action, third-placed Kilmarnock are only six points behind Rangers in second and former Ibrox defender Kirk Broadfoot is keen to reel Rangers in. Broadfoot said: "Kilmarnock have taken the most points off Rangers this season so if you look at it like that then it is doable."

Aberdeen's bid for second took an Uche Ikpeazu-sized dent when they went down 2-1 to Hearts at the weekend. Hearts and Scotland defender John Souttar hailed Ikpeazu as "unplayable" at times. But fellow Scotland centre-half Scott McKenna says Aberdeen only have themselves to blame for their drop to fourth in the table. McKenna commented: "We just need to try and put it right, starting with a win midweek [at home to Motherwell]. We can’t afford to slip up too much between now and the end of the season.”

At the foot of the table, St Mirren earned what could be a huge 2-1 win over Dundee to leapfrog their relegation rivals into the play-off spot. St Mirren boss Oran Kearney praised the contribution of Gary MacKenzie, who was back in the side for the first time since last April due to injury. Kearney said: "I felt his overall performance was outstanding, typified by the block he made in time added on when he throws everything at it to get his body in the way."

Meanwhile, St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright had a pop at his players after their top-six ambitions came to a conclusion with a 3-0 loss at Motherwell on Saturday. Wright said: "Maybe I was the only one in the dressing room who believed we could still make it." 

In rugby, Edinburgh's Darcy Graham has re-set his sights on earning future Champions Cup glory after the loss to Munster. Graham said: “These big games down to the fine margins, little details. We were fairly clinical for the whole game but fair play to Munster, you can’t take it away from them."

And elsewhere, the Daily Record say Morelos faces a four-game ban.