Luke McCowan made an impressive debut for Celtic, scoring in his first start as the champions reclaimed the top spot in the Scottish Premiership with a 3-0 victory over Motherwell. Lennon Miller had twice struck the goal frame for the hosts before McCowan intercepted the ball, evaded Kofi Balmer, and fired it into the bottom corner from 18 yards, opening the scoring in the 27th minute. Alistair Johnston doubled Celtic's lead 11 minutes into the second half, and Adam Idah's late goal ensured their most comfortable win at Fir Park under Brendan Rodgers. Motherwell's Liam Gordon received a VAR-assisted red card in stoppage time, adding to their woes.
Rangers endured another nerve-wracking match before securing a 2-1 win against a resilient St Mirren at Ibrox. Recovering from last week's defeat at Kilmarnock with a 4-0 Europa League victory over FCSB in Govan on Thursday, Philippe Clement's side, with captain James Tavernier on the bench, struggled to find their rhythm despite taking an early lead through Mohamed Diomande. Alex Gogic's header leveled the score in the 26th minute, but Vaclav Cerny, who scored twice against FCSB, came to the rescue with the winning goal in the 69th minute. The Light Blues remain in third place, six points behind Celtic and Aberdeen, and face a trip to Pittodrie on Wednesday with ongoing issues at the top, including an absent chairman, CEO, and director of football, leading to continued discontent among supporters.
Neil Critchley lauded James Wilson's goalscoring instincts after the 17-year-old Hearts striker came off the bench to score a late equalizer in the Edinburgh derby against Hibernian. The academy graduate capitalized on a long throw and netted from close range in the 87th minute to secure a 1-1 draw after Mykola Kuharevich's opener for Hibs in the 65th minute. Wilson, who has made just six substitute appearances for Hearts, scored his second consecutive goal under Critchley, following his first for the club against St Mirren last weekend. "Fantastic, but that's him, he's a goalscorer, a goal poacher," said Critchley. "That's what goalscorers do. They just arrive in the right position at the right time, and they find a way of hitting the back of the net." David Gray, the Hibs manager, felt Wilson's goal undermined an otherwise strong performance. "I don't think anybody could deny that we deserved to win the game on chances created," Gray said. "For 99% of the game, I thought we were excellent defensively, but we've dropped two points again, in my opinion."
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
