Scottish Premiership title race: What we learned from Hearts, Rangers, Celtic and Motherwell after big weekend | Football news

Four teams in the title race and three points separating the top three – it was a weekend at the top of the Scottish Premiership that swung in a “race to the wire” race.

Celtic’s dramatic comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 away at Kilmarnock piled the pressure on Rangers and Hearts ahead of their clash at Ibrox – and the pressure showed as both sides took part in a six-goal ding-dong thriller.

Rangers’ 4-2 win over Hearts has now created a two-point gap between the top two – with Celtic three points off the top with a game in hand.

But don’t forget Motherwell in all this – as their eight-game winning streak has seen them ten points behind Hearts with a game in hand. It’s not impossible…

So after this weekend – where are we? Sky Sports’ football reporters review each team’s main talking points…

Hearts are still in a great position despite the loss

Since Christmas, Hearts have lost to Hibernian, failed to beat Celtic with ten points, lost to St Mirren and now beaten at Ibrox. Another big game that Derek McInnes’ side failed to win as expectations rose.

But despite their second defeat in three games, Hearts are still in a fantastic position for now.

First and foremost, they have two home games to answer this against Falkirk and Aberdeen – which bodes well for a side currently suffering from a lack of energy at Rangers.

But most importantly, that second game against Aberdeen comes ahead of the Old Firm derby at Ibrok, where something must give in terms of their Glasgow rivals’ chances.

Yes, defeat at Rangers opened up the title race and Hearts’ dominance this season looks vulnerable. But it’s worth remembering that Celtic rely heavily on late winners – including against second-bottom Kilmarnock on Sunday. The Rangers are struggling to make it back-to-back wins. They are still in a great place.
Blitz himself

Celtic left late, very late, again!

For the third consecutive game in just eight days, Martin O’Neill’s Celtic were saved in injury time.

It has been a feature of many of Celtic’s great title-winning teams over the years. Even in recent history, think of Matt O’Reilly v Motherwell (2023), Girogos Giakoumakis v St Johnstone (2022), or even Anthony Ralston v Ross County (2021).

All goals we said at the time would prove crucial in the title race. Goals that make champions.

But this year is different, and these late winners will actually make a difference. The league is not a gallop this year – quite the opposite, and Celtic have the key ingredient of winning experience.

They have a core of serial winners who know nothing but success: Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, James Forrest to name a few.

But a ‘winning mentality’ will only take you so far. The performance levels in the first half were once again extremely alarming.

O’Neill admitted: “I don’t think you can go on like that.” You’re right, Martin. You have some seriously tough games coming up and you can’t get out of them all in stoppage time.
Adam Binnie

Rangers come back from the brink to roar back into the title race like no other

Rangers fans could be forgiven for thinking they’ve seen this movie before. The new manager went on a winning streak after disastrous events threatened to derail the season, only for those revitalized results to collapse in the clutch moments.

Dropping points in the dying minutes to Motherwell in midweek, after Hearts and Celtic scored late winners, could see Rangers revert to the type of recent times. Instead, a big win over the league leaders on Sunday puts them within touching distance of the summit – even if huge challenges lie ahead.

Under Danny Roll, Rangers closed the gap on Hearts from 13 points to just two. That in itself is quite an achievement considering how poor the Ibrox side were before the German took over.

Rohl refuses to get too high or too low, regardless of the score. As fans were still leaving Ibroke on Sunday night, he told Sky Sports he was already thinking about another big game next week in Livingstone. One game at a time may be a cliché, but that’s the mantra that saw Steven Gerrard deliver Rangers’ last title in 2021.

Derek McInnes has said Rangers will still have to return to Tynecastle. Hearts will be licking their lips at the prospect of an Old Firm doubleheader, while fixtures against Falkirk, Hibernian and Motherwell have been anything but straightforward for Rangers this season.

The truth is that this is probably not a campaign where Brendan Rodgers, Gerrard or Ang Postecoglou are devoured by everyone before them. Points will be dropped; there will be twists and turns and the top six is ​​likely to be of such quality that the post-split fixtures could be among the most intriguing we’ve seen in years.

If there was any doubt before this weekend – we have an exciting title race ahead of us. Real, real, title race. And, thanks to Youssef Chermiti’s hat-trick, Rangers are very much part of it.
Allan Valente

Time to take Motherwell seriously

Maybe we’ve been charging this wrong all along.

Some Motherwell fans, even some Motherwell players, will tell you that there are four teams in this title fight, not three.

Top scorer Tawanda Maswanize told me on Thursday: “Look after us.” JT, I’m looking.

Jens Bertel Askow’s side beat Aberdeen 2-0 at home again today. They remain unbeaten in seven matches in 2026 and have lost just once in their last 18 league games.

The form chart will tell you they are as good as Danny Roll’s revitalized Rangers – who are the only team to score at Fir Park since October.

With a semi-favorable run of games on the horizon, we could be looking at a fourth-place finish coming apart.

This isn’t the old “they can’t win the title, but they can influence who they want” cliché. A win in their back-to-back games would take them to within seven points of the league leaders…
Adam Binnie