Another plot twist in Scottish title race for the ages.
On a cold Tuesday evening, with 87 minutes of the Edinburgh derby gone, it seemed the Scottish Premiership title momentum was about to jolt towards Glasgow.
But then Tomas Magnusson popped up in the Hibernian box to knock in a late winner for leaders Hearts. As Tynecastle rocked, the reverberations were felt far west.
The Gorgie side has restored their advantage to a full six points before their title rivals played. The standard had been set. Keep up if you can.
Time for Wednesday, when Celtic hosted Livingston and Rangers headed to mighty Motherwell, who sit on the top three’s coattails in fourth, at Fir Park.
If you thought Tuesday was dramatic, Wednesday certainly did not disappoint.
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With 90 minutes played at Parkhead, there was a shock on the cards. Livingston, a side without a win in 23 games and who’ve just changed manager, were about to hold Celtic to a draw.
Up stepped Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, curling in a winner from the edge of the box, on his Celtic debut. His first goal in any game of football for 14 months, and the first time he’d stepped on a pitch since May 2025.
Celtic remain third, but are now a point behind Rangers and within six of Hearts, with a game in hand over both.
Over in North Lanarkshire, it seemed more simple for Rangers. A goal to the good thanks to Nico Raskin’s early strike, they also had a man advantage after Lukas Fadinger’s red card.
It seemed they had answered the challenge laid down to them by Hearts, only for Motherwell defender Stephen Welsh to lash home a late equaliser that Danny Rohl’s side could not respond to.
Remember, this is on-loan Stephen Welsh who made two appearances for Celtic in January after being recalled, only to rejoin Motherwell on deadline day.
“Just when there’s a twist of fate at Celtic Park a few minutes ago, it’s a Celtic player who then comes up with huge goal for Motherwell,” pundit Stephen Craigan said.
“Another chapter in what is proving to be the best season we’ve seen in such a long time,” was ex-Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart’s analysis on Sportsound.
Sunday looks like ‘a must-win’ for Rangers
From a huge game on Wednesday, to an even bigger one on Sunday afternoon. First travels to second when Hearts go to Ibrox to face Rangers.
Derek McInnes’ side won there earlier in the season, for the first time since 2014. They beat Rangers at Tynecastle, too, in a 2-1 win in December.
But, Rohl’s men haven’t lost since then. In fact, they’ve drawn twice and won seven. It’s resurgent form that looks a world away from a team which were once 13 points adrift in the title race under Russell Martin.
“I think it is a pretty good point [against Motherwell] but as Danny Rohl mentioned, there’s a massive game on Sunday [against Hearts] and that starts to look like a must-win,” said former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson.
Celtic will be looking on, crossing their fingers and wishing for a draw.
They’ll be fresh off the back of a game against Kilmarnock down at Rugby Park. The last time they were, they won thanks to a late Kelechi Iheanacho penalty.
They’ll need a better performance than the one against Livingston. Although they peppered the visitors’ goal with shots, the lack of cutting edge will be a worry.
“Celtic were running out of ideas, very predictable, just playing it across, hoping rather than making it happen, and they just got away with it right at the end,” said former keeper Pat Bonner.
“What a huge three points it is for Celtic. They’ll be relieved.”
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