Celtic issue comes back to haunt Kyogo Furuhashi as Rangers star takes major penalty 'chance with VAR'

Celtic and Rangers both earned three points over the weekend thanks to wins over Dundee United and Hearts respectively. The latest result keeps the Hoops a hefty 13 points clear of their Glasgow rivals as they continue their charge towards the title.

Take a look below at the latest headlines for the two sides amid the ongoing fallout of the weekend’s results.

Kyogo suffers fresh injury setback following Celtic exit

Kyogo Furuhashi has been hit with a new fitness setback as old injury struggles from Celtic have resurfaced at his new side. The forward made the switch from Scotland to France over the winter window in a £10 million move to Rennes.

After being left on the bench for the clash against Saint-Etienne, Kyogo was handed a cameo appearance from the bench in Rennes’ latest defeat to Lille. However, the 30-year-old was forced off just minutes after his substitution due to a shoulder injury, which cropped up as a recurring problem during his time with Celtic.

Brendan Rodgers addressed the problem and admitted that if Kyogo were to opt for surgery to correct the issue, it would see him out of action for four months, which is of course a significant time for a key attacker.

Rennes boss Habib Beye was left frustrated by the injury setback The new manager had used up all of his substitutions and was forced to play with nine men towards the end of the match, following a red card shown to Christopher Wooh.

“Red cards, injuries, they don’t help but I don’t want to use them as an excuse. Kyogo Furuhashi's shoulder injury forces us to change system and, at that moment, we have a highlight, we had a boost of energy,” Beye said.

“I think our choices in the final third were not always the right ones, we lacked precision and offensive weight to put them under pressure. The problem is that, at one point, we played with 9, with the temporary exit of Kyogo Furuhashi.“

Rangers star ‘takes chance’ with VAR

Thanks to two own goals, Rangers secured their latest Scottish Premiership win over Hearts. However, there was some controversy that overshadowed the result, which many believe wasn’t reflective of the nature of the match.

Hearts felt they should have been awarded a penalty prior to Rangers taking the lead for the second time. Clinton Nsiala appeared to push James Wilson to the floor inside the away box, but a spot-kick was not given and VAR didn’t intervene either.

It was a call that several claimed could have completely turned the game on its head, as Hearts were eventually dealt a 3-1 defeat. Stephen McGinn discussed the penalty call on BBC Sportscene after the match and said that Nsiala chanced his luck with VAR as he avoided being punished for the incident. However, McGinn believes there wasn’t enough to go against Rangers and give Hearts the spot-kick.

“It’s one of those ones. Nsiala takes a chance with VAR because the more you slow it down, the more you look at it, the more it looks like a foul. In real play, I didn’t think there was enough to be given a penalty but I would say, as Steven said, as the attacking team you’re desperate for it and I think Nsiala takes a chance.”