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Two sent off in thrilling Old Firm draw

Jamie Ness opened the scoring with a thunderbolt © PA Photos

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Rangers and Celtic both had a man dismissed as a spiky Scottish Cup fifth round showdown ended in a 2-2 draw at Ibrox.

Jamie Ness handed Walter Smith's side a wonderful start when he arrowed a 20-yard drive into the top corner after less than three minutes. Rangers could then have extended their advantage when Steven Davis rattled the bar from close range.

Instead it was Celtic who grabbed the game's second goal through Kris Commons, only to then see Fraser Forster sent off after bringing down Steven Naismith inside the area. Steven Whittaker stepped up to make it 2-1.

However, Celtic were not out of the game, and they found a wonderful equaliser with 25 minutes remaining, with Scott Brown curling into the far corner.

Rangers then thought they had a penalty when Naismith went down inside the area, but the referee rightly produced the yellow card for diving, resulting a red card for the crestfallen Naismith.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen left it late to book their place in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Dunfermline thanks to an injury-time own goal by Neil McGregor.

The Pars, who dumped the Dons out of the competition in a quarter-final replay two years ago, looked set to hold out for a replay and were unlucky not to break the deadlock when an Andy Kirk's drive was tipped over the bar by Jamie Langfield.

The Dons, who have made a habit of getting knocked out of competitions by lower league sides in recent seasons, enjoyed a large amount of possession against the First Division side but rarely troubled Kyle Allison in the Dunfermline goal.

However they will now face St Mirren in the quarter-finals following their late winner, when Chris Maguire's cross into the box was punched by goalkeeper Allison onto the unfortunate McGregor and the ball rebounded into the net to the delight of the home support.

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