Scottish Premiership: Pressure back on Gers boss Clement; the dreary Dons lose again; Fighting Saints | Football news
Rangers failed to build on their impressive win at the Old Firm as Hibs’ impressive form continued, Aberdeen’s woes continued as St Johnstone’s survival hopes suffered another blow.
Rangers’ inconsistency keeps Hibs unbeaten
After their impressive 3-0 win against Celtic, Rangers’ poor form away from home again proved costly as they had to settle for draw at Easter Road.
Philippe Clement stuck with the same starting XI as in the Old Firm game, but they failed to hit the same heights as at Ibrox three days earlier, dropping points in seven of their 10 away league games this season.
The bright spark for the Ibrox side was Hamza Igamane and his hat-trick, but there were plenty of missed opportunities to wrap up the win and keep some pressure on Celtic in the title race.
Hibs were torn apart in the early stages but their resilience shone through again as they twice came from behind to take a point and extend their unbeaten run to six games.
David Gray’s side have picked up 10 points after losing ground in the Premiership this season and Rocky Bushiri’s header shows the players now have the fight that seemed to be missing a few months ago.
Two sides of Aberdeen
As impressive as Aberdeen were at the start of the season, now they are like pitiful without a win in the last 10.
While Jimmy Thelin admits the Dons have “issues to sort out”, he still believes their current form can be turned around and, given they were unbeaten in 11 earlier in the campaign, you feel victory will soon come again.
They struggled in the first half at Motherwell with Slobodan Rubežić’s red card obviously due to frustration, but they looked brighter after the break.
The introduction of Leighton Clarkson came with a bit of a scuffle with the midfielder hitting the crossbar.
Can St Johnstone bounce back after being dumped?
Without a win in eight and now eight points adrift at the foot of the Scottish Premiership, it’s a long way back for St Johnstone.
They were 3-0 down against Dundee before half an hour on Sunday and it is clear that Simo Valakari needs to be allowed to strengthen his squad this month.
Defenders must be a priority. They have conceded 19 first-half goals in 22 Premiership games this season, the worst record in the league.
Notts County and Hearts have both recalled Kyle Cameron and Lewis Neilson, meaning additions are needed if they are to survive another season in the top flight.
What else did we learn?
Celtic’s unbeaten run came to a screeching halt at Ibrox, but they showed it was just a fluke as they bounced straight back to dominate play against St Mirren.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are 13 points clear in the title race behind theirs 3-0 win against St Mirren which offered little at Parkhead.
Hearts have shown improvement since their derby defeat at Hibs to make it back-to-back wins in 2025 with 1-0 win against Dundee United.
Jim Goodwin’s side struggled as they failed to make it four wins in a row to strengthen their position in third place.
With just three points separating 11th from seventh in the league, it was also a crucial 1-0 win for Ross County as they moved above opponents Kilmarnock into ninth.
