Celtic class above Hearts in capital win
Heart of Midlothian 1 – 4 Celtic Celtic applied the afterburners against Hearts to leave Tynecastle with a convincing win, moving three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership. In truth Neil Critchley’s side should have had something to show for their efforts in the first half but were sorely lacking a composed presence up front. Blair Spittal could only tamely fire at the keeper before Lawrence Shankland continued to look a shadow of his former self, sending a James Penrice cut-back wide. Having kept the tiring hosts out, Celtic took a hold of the game as Daniel Oyegoke’s poor clearance was deflected into Kygo Furuhashi’s feet, the Japanese forward finishing after Craig Gordon’s opening save. Brendan Rodgers’ men soon doubled their lead with Nikolas Kuhn firing home a second. Hearts were nearly back in when Anthony Ralston’s clearance hit the post and Shankland not making the most of another opportunity, instead teeing up Cameron Devlin, who could not guide the ball past the bodies in front. Adam Idah’s finish put the game to bed but the goals didn’t stop there, Musa Drammeh’s rocket from outside the box providing some consolation before Idah put home a penalty in added time to make sure Celtic had the final word on the night.
Dundee United pile further misery on Rangers with draw
Rangers 1 – 1 Dundee United Rangers title hopes now hang in the balance as Dundee United pushed the hosts to a draw, the Glasgow side now sit eleven points behind leaders Celtic. United made the home side look amateurish in their defending as Sam Dalby waltzed into the box unmarked to give his side the lead. Nedim Bajrami had tested Jack Walton with a curling shot as the keeper was forced into action on multiple occasions in the first half. Robin Propper thought he had equalised only for an earlier Connor Barron hand ball to see it chalked off. Philipe Clement turned to once forgotten men Ianis Hagi and Danilo to make an impact and was soon rewarded. Despite missing a clear cut chance the Brazilian provided an assist for Vaclav Cerny, the midfielder arguably Rangers’ brightest spark this season. Rangers were not able to get anymore out of the game and they now find themselves in a battle for third with their opponents tonight. A far cry from their title ambitions at the beginning of the season.
Gloomy night in Dundee ends in defeat for hapless Hibs
Dundee 4 – 1 Hibernian Dundee took full advantage of a Hibs red to card to fire home four unanswered goals, piling further misery onto a hapless David Gray. Jordan Obita’s low cross was met by Nicky Cadden as the hosts began the game by far the better side. Their momentum was stopped dead in its tracks when Obita’s reckless challenge on Mohamed Sylla was met with a straight red. Dundee soon made their extra man count McGhee breezed into the box to finish Robertson’s cross. Hibernian’s series of unfortunate events continued to unfold before the manager’s eyes as Nectarios Triantis put the ball into his own net following a relatively tame Dundee corner. Not long after, a poor touch from Josef Bursik under little pressure allowed Seb Palmer-Holden to stretch the lead. The hosts piled further misery onto the Edinburgh side when Curtis Main grabbed a fourth in added time. Hibernian remain rooted at the foot of the table after yet another defeat.