'Possible' Rangers handball leaves rival far from impressed + EPL winner a 'great' replacement for Celtic hero
A roundup of the latest Celtic and Rangers headlines following their Scottish Premiership action.
It was wins all round for Celtic and Rangers over the weekend as the two sides returned to Scottish Premiership action.
The Hoops continued their unbeaten start to the season, matched once again by their closest rivals in Aberdeen. Celtic remain top of the table after a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock, while Rangers edged a 1-0 victory at Ibrox against a struggling Hearts side. The league will now pause for the final international break of the year, so let’s take a look at the fallout from the latest round of results.
Critchley on ‘possible’ Rangers handball
Hearts were denied a result against Rangers in their latest meeting after an early Cyriel Dessers goal proved to be enough for a much-needed win. Philippe Clement’s side bounced back from their previous defeat to Aberdeen but not everyone was left in high spirits.
Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon was left unhappy at the end of the match and Neil Critchley has weighed in on a ‘possible’ handball during a final attack from the Jambos. The Hearts boss also reflected on the amount of added time in the match, which he feels was incorrect.
“I think because it was a possible handball. I've not seen it back yet and I don't know if it was in the box, not in the box. I don't know. I think the time, three minutes, I thought it should have been longer than that.
“We had seven minutes at St Johnstone last week and I don't remember the physios coming on or anything. So three minutes, I don't know where that's come from. It should have been longer in my opinion. So maybe we would have got a free kick and that would have been... Because we were pushing right to the end.”
Chris Sutton praises Celtic signing
Celtic were made to work for their latest win, with the 2-0 scoreline masking the real nature of the match. Chris Sutton has described the three points as a ‘slightly fortunate’ outcome for the Hoops and heaped praise on Nicolas Kuhn for his late goal, plus the efforts of summer signing Kasper Schmeichel.
“Huge win for Celtic, maybe slightly fortunate as Kilmarnock pushed them all the way. Kasper Schmeichel tremendous today. Great replacement for Joe Hart. Quality finish from Nicolas Kuhn,” Sutton wrote on social media.
Schmeichel was brought in to replace club favourite Joe Hart, who retired following the 2023/24 season as a Celtic icon. The 38-year-old still has a lot of life left in him and brought a wealth of experience to Parkhead, having been part of the Leicester City side that stunned the world with their Premier League triumph in 2016.