MX23RW : Sunday, December 29 04:21:24| >> :120:71200:71200:

Scottish football - five things we learned this weekend

Neil Lennon's Celtic are on the march towards an eighth successive title.

Celtic took a giant step towards an eighth consecutive Ladbrokes Premiership title as they beat Rangers 2-1 in a dramatic derby.

Rangers had Alfredo Morelos sent off but fought back from Odsonne Edouard's first-half opener to level through Ryan Kent, only for James Forrest to net a late winner with Celtic also down to 10 men following injury to Dedryck Boyata.

The result sent Celtic 13 points clear with seven games remaining and left Rangers without victory in five matches.

Here are five other things we learned from the weekend's Premiership action.

1. Steven Gerrard has lost patience with Alfredo Morelos

Scott Brown laughs as Alfredo Morelos heads for an early bath
Scott Brown laughs as Alfredo Morelos heads for an early bath (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The Rangers manager refused to defend the Colombian after his fifth red card of the season and recommended his board fine the striker a week's wages and give it to the away fans who attended at Parkhead. Morelos was far too easily wound up by Scott Brown and swung a wild arm at the Celtic captain, who laughed in his face as he stormed off the pitch. Morelos now faces a four-match ban.

2. Rangers have the belief and character needed at Celtic Park – but need to show it from the start

Rangers celebrate Ryan Kent's equaliser
Rangers celebrate Ryan Kent's equaliser (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Steven Gerrard called for his players to relish the hostile atmosphere but they were outplayed for the majority of the first half. But they came back strongly to equalise through Kent after going down to 10 men and had chances in a hectic finale.

3. Rangers lack Celtic's derby composure

Ryan Kent lashed out at Scott Brown
Ryan Kent lashed out at Scott Brown (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Morelos was not the only player wound up by Brown. Kent lashed out at the midfielder after Celtic's winner and will be fortunate to escape a retrospective ban, and Andy Halliday was sent off after the final whistle for reacting to Brown celebrating in front of the Rangers fans. The champions showed the calmness needed at the big moments as they twice clinically punished loose passes to break swiftly. Edouard took his time to finish brilliantly for the opener after Forrest's sublime first-time pass, and repaid the favour to roll in the winger to calmly slot the winner.

4. There will almost certainly be two more Edinburgh derbies to come

Hearts jumped back above Hibernian following the Leith side's 2-1 win at Livingston on Friday night, coming from behind to beat Aberdeen 2-1 and secure a top-six place in the process. In-form Hibs would need to lose twice and see Motherwell beat Aberdeen and Rangers to drop out of the top half before the split. And Paul Heckingbottom's side could even challenge for the European places with games against rivals Kilmarnock and Hearts to come before the split.

5. There's a battle at the bottom

St Mirren climbed off the foot of the table with a 2-1 win over closest rivals Dundee, and third-bottom Hamilton's 5-0 thrashing by Kilmarnock will have given their fans real cause for concern. Six points separate the bottom three and the battle to avoid the drop and the play-off looks set to offer twists and turns in the final seven games.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Gavin McCafferty, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '842f1e7a-5d47-489d-b0a8-b6776d1993b6');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': '5 things we learned from Scottish football this weekend'});

ID:354911: cacheID:354911:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:10248:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Neil Lennon in charge of Celtic on March 31, 2019
Read Next:
Neil Lennon hits out at "disgraceful" Rangers behaviour
>
Read more about Celtic Rangers Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Cardinals
@
Rams
6pm
Jets
@
Bills
6pm
Panthers
@
Buccaneers
6pm
Colts
@
Giants
6pm
Titans
@
Jags
6pm
Raiders
@
Saints
6pm
Packers
@
Vikings
9.05pm
Dolphins
@
Browns
9.25pm
Cowboys
@
Eagles
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic1715204844447
2RangersRangers17112429111835
3Aberdeen1810443125634
4Dundee UnitedDundee Utd187742720728
5St Mirren198382630-427
6Motherwell188282331-826
7Hibernian195682631-521
8Kilmarnock195682335-1221
9Dundee185492733-619
10Ross County194691735-1818
11Hearts1944112129-816
12St Johnstone1942132236-1414


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!