Scottish Premiership Roundup: Rangers' Latest Slip Gifts Celtic 14-Point Lead at Top

Scottish Premiership Roundup: Rangers' Latest Slip Gifts Celtic 14-Point Lead at Top

"Is the Scottish Premiership title race already over?"

Rangers' Struggles Continue
A second-half double from substitute Hamza Igamane rescued a 2-2 draw for Rangers at Motherwell, but the disjointed visitors fell further behind Premiership leaders Celtic. Philippe Clement came under fresh fire following the 2-1 Boxing Day defeat at St Mirren, and there was uproar among the traveling supporters as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos put the hosts ahead in the 16th minute before Tawanda Maswanhise added a second in the 35th minute. Despite 10 added minutes, the comeback could not be completed, leaving Rangers 14 points behind Celtic, with the title all but gone and Clement's future uncertain.

Celtic's Commanding Victory
Kyogo Furuhashi netted twice in five second-half minutes as Celtic extended their lead at the top with a one-sided 4-0 win over St Johnstone. Nicolas Kühn opened the scoring, and substitute Daizen Maeda rounded off Celtic's second 4-0 victory in three days. The win put Celtic further out of sight of Rangers before their visit to Ibrox on 2 January. It also completed a highly fruitful 2024 for Celtic, who end the year with just two defeats in all competitions plus all three major domestic trophies in their cabinet as well as their healthy lead in the table.

Dundee United's Dramatic Finish
Dundee United finished 2024 with a flourish as they secured a dramatic late 1-0 victory against Aberdeen at Tannadice. The game looked like it was heading for a goalless draw before Kevin Holt soared highest to head past Dimitar Mitov deep in stoppage time. The result means United have only lost once in nine games while Aberdeen have now failed to win any of their last eight, with the home side now just three points behind the third-from-top Dons.

Ross County's Last-Minute Heroics
Ross County scored two goals deep into stoppage time to claim a valuable 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Hearts in Dingwall. Goals early in both halves from 17-year-old James Wilson had seemingly set the second-bottom Jambos on course for a comfortable victory, with VAR getting involved on three separate occasions afterwards to the detriment of both sides. However, those delays meant eight minutes of stoppage time were added on, and the Staggies took full advantage with goals from Josh Nisbet and Jordan White giving them something to show for their efforts.

Dundee's Hard-Fought Win
Simon Murray scored two headers as Dundee battled to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium.

Hibernian's Winning Streak
Resurgent Hibernian made it four wins in succession for the first time since October 2022 as Nectar Triantis's first-half header proved enough to secure a 1-0 victory over 10-man Kilmarnock.

"Stay tuned for more thrilling updates from the Scottish Premiership!"

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Link
(https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/dec/29/scottish-premiership-roundup-rangers-slip-celtic-14-point-lead).