The Hoops looked set to increase their lead at the top of the table to a staggering 19 points when Thomas Gravesen grabbed the opener in the first half.

But his goal was cancelled out by Brahim Hemdani with just two minutes to go to claim a share of the spoils for the Ibrox side.

Gers boss Paul Le Guen rested several players for Thursday’s UEFA Cup win over Partizan Belgrade and he made no fewer than five changes.

Skipper Barry Ferguson, Jeremy Clement, Dado Prso, Libor Sionko and Charlie Adam were named in the starting line-up in place of Gavin Rae, Makhtar N’Diaye, Filip Sebo, Thomas Buffel and Julien Rodriguez.

Celtic were boosted by the return of Stephen McManus, who took the place of Darren O’Dea after recovering from a knee injury.

Kenny Miller had to settle for a place on the bench in favour of Gravesen, as boss Gordon Strachan made two changes from last week’s win at Dunfermline.

Celtic could have drawn first blood when a poor goal-kick from Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor broke to Neil Lennon, but his 40-yard drive fell well wide of target.

At the other end of the park, Ferguson tried his luck with a shot from just outside the box, which was smothered by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

The Ibrox skipper then fired over from six yards when it looked so much easier to find the back of the net.

Lennon almost gifted Rangers the opener when he played the ball straight to the feet of Nacho Novo, who forced Boruc into an impressive save to turn his shot just past the post.

Celtic were under pressure again when Adam played a short corner to Ferguson and he set up Dado Prso in front of goal only for his header to flash wide.

Rangers then screamed for a penalty when Prso went to ground under pressure from Lee Naylor but the offside flag was already raised before the challenge was made.

The breakthrough came after 37 minutes but it was Celtic who surged into the lead.

A Naylor ball across the face of goal was missed by the entire Gers defence and fell to the feet of Gravesen who volleyed home at the near post from a tight angle.

The Hoops then claimed Lennon was fouled in the box by Steven Smith but the penalty pleas were ignored by referee Kenny Clark.

Celtic were still hungry for goals and an Aiden McGeady effort was blocked by the legs of McGregor shortly after the restart.

McGeady then picked up the first booking of the game for a nasty challenge on Alan Hutton.

Only the woodwork prevented Rangers from hauling themselves back to level terms when a Prso volley crashed off the post.

The rebound fell to the feet of Sionko but his effort came back off the opposite upright and the chance was lost.

Novo then squeezed past McManus into the danger area but, despite having only the goalkeeper to beat, he hooked wide of the post.

McManus was cautioned for a foul on Prso with ten minutes to go.

Karl Svensson then almost proved to be the surprise saviour for Rangers with a stinging effort which forced a decent save from Boruc.

Substitute Filip Sebo then became the first Gers player to be booked for a wild lunge on Naylor in the final minutes of the game.

But Ibrox erupted with just two minutes to go when Rangers drew level through Hemdani.

A Ferguson corner was cleared by Gravesen but his header fell to the feet of Hemdani, who left Boruc with no chance with a superb 25-yard volley which took a slight deflection off Gravesen en-route to the top corner of the net.