In a thrilling encounter at Dens Park, Celtic were held to a 3-3 draw by Dundee FC. The match saw multiple lead changes, with Celtic initially going ahead through Luke McCowan’s early header.
Dundee responded with goals from Seun Adewumi and an own goal by Cameron Carter-Vickers. Aaron Donnelly’s header in the 78th minute seemed to secure a famous win for Dundee, but a stoppage-time penalty by Arne Engels ensured Celtic salvaged a point.
Meanwhile, at Ibrox Stadium, Rangers secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Aberdeen. Hamza Igamane opened the scoring early on, with Leon Balogun and Cyriel Dessers adding goals in stoppage time to seal the win. This result provided a much-needed boost for Rangers, who have faced recent challenges both on and off the pitch.
Despite these results, Celtic maintain a substantial lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership, sitting 16 points clear of Rangers. The draw against Dundee, while disappointing for the Hoops, does little to dent their commanding position in the league standings.
Daizen Maeda held his nerve to score the decisive penalty as Celtic edged past Rangers 5-4 in a dramatic shootout to claim the Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park. The final, which ended 3-3 after extra-time, showcased relentless drama between the Old Firm rivals.
Rangers struck first in the 41st minute through Nadim Baramin, who capitalised on a mistake by Celtic left-back Greg Taylor.
However, Taylor redeemed himself early in the second half when his deflected effort off Gers midfielder Nicolas Raskind found the back of the net. Minutes later, another Raskind error proved costly as Maeda pounced to fire Celtic into the lead.
The Ibrox side responded with resilience. Mohamed Diomande equalised in the 75th minute, setting up a tense finale.
Nicolas Kuhn restored Celtic’s lead in the 87th minute, seemingly sealing the trophy for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
But Rangers substitute Danilo had other ideas, scoring just a minute later to send the game into extra-time.
Neither side could find a winner in the additional 30 minutes, forcing a penalty shootout.
Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel emerged as the hero, saving Ridvan Yilmaz’s spot-kick to hand the advantage to the Hoops. Maeda then stepped up to calmly dispatch the final penalty, ensuring the silverware returned to Parkhead.
For Rangers, it was another heartbreaking defeat in a fixture that has increasingly tilted in Celtic’s favour. Manager Philippe Clement is now winless in six Old Firm clashes, a record that will add pressure as he looks to steady the ship at Ibrox.
The victory also saw Celtic move ahead of their rivals in the historical trophy count, with the Hoops now boasting 119 major honours to Rangers’ 118, further cementing their dominance in Scottish football.
On to the news on ground:
Celtic continue to march ahead and prove why they are the dominant force in Scotland.
Last Saturday, Celtic scored five first-half goals against Ross County, only a week after scoring four second-half goals against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Before a ball was kicked this season, you were told that a title challenge was supposed to come from Rangers, but fast forward to the present, and you wouldn’t even be able to see Philippe Clement’s side even if you put your binoculars on.
The champions are 11 points clear of Rangers in the table and it’s not even Christmas yet.
Aberdeen are the only ones testing Celtic, yet they are now four points behind after playing a game extra following their 1-1 draw at Hearts.
All of this, whilst Brendan Rodgers juggles Champions League football, which is going rather well as a top-eight finish is still on the cards.
Yet, if you listened to a certain Graeme Souness with his blue-tinted glasses on, he previously claimed in August on talkSPORT about the two Glasgow clubs, ‘Now, I don’t think there is such a big gap. I really don’t’.
But as ever, Martin O’Neill was on hand to drop some more truth bombs on the former midfielder following the latest set of results.
Martin O’Neill says Celtic and Rangers gap will widen:
When Celtic struggled away at Hearts last week, they walked away with a 4-1 win, for Rangers, it’s a 1-0 win at St Johnstone, with an own goal being the difference.
Even when the Bhoys are half at it, they are still miles ahead of the rest and Rangers are in that boat with everyone else in the league.
O’Neill made it clear on talkSPORT (02/12/24 at 12:25 pm) that Rangers are simply ‘not good enough’ to challenge the champions who are ‘so dominant’.
The legendary manager mentioned his ‘argument’ with Souness, and his previous take on the gap, before putting him in his place and reminding him again that the gap is indeed ‘massive’.
“I don’t think he (Rodgers) has to worry too much because Rangers are so poor,” said O’Neill. “I have been saying this for some quite considerable weeks now. They aren’t a good enough side to challenge Celtic over a whole season.
“I had this argument with Graeme Souness some weeks ago that ‘there isn’t a big gap between them’, there is a massive gap between them. On any given Saturday and any given day, Rangers might pose a threat to Celtic for a match, but over a whole season, especially in league terms, not good enough.
“There is no challenge from Rangers there, at this minute. Aberdeen have done exceptionally well, so far, but you aren’t expecting Aberdeen to keep it going throughout the whole season. They have done really well again. If Celtic are thinking Aberdeen are their main challengers, then as you (Jim White) mentioned at the top of your question to me. Complacency? I don’t think Celtic will be complacent. I watched them against Brugge, the other evening, expectations had been high because they had been splendid against Leipzig. They didn’t play so well in the first half and much, much better in the second half. Eight points from five games. Going strongly in the Champions League and even stronger in the SPL.
“It could be wider (the points gap by the end of the season) because Celtic are so dominant. Very, very strong. You just expect Celtic to win the games. You mentioned that ‘Rangers got over the line against St Johnstone’. That is no real surprise to me. You don’t feel that Rangers are capable of going away from home and winning convincingly in matches.
Celtic’s fixture list before Ibrox showdown
Celtic didn’t even get out of first gear for the first Glasgow derby win of the season and now they have two fixtures in the space of a few weeks.
It’s the small matter of the League Cup final on December 15, with a trip to Croatia to take on Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League only days earlier.
In the middle of all that, there are some crucial Premiership matches, including Celtic’s clash against Aberdeen on Wednesday night, with the New Year starting with a bang for that Ibrox fixture.
If Rodgers gets this right, then a League Cup trophy, knockout Champions League football and a double-point lead could be on the cards by the time 2025 starts.
