SPFL Week 28 Round Up

As the Scottish Premiership charges on to the business end of the season it was a week in which the two leaders faltered, and the relegation battle remains neck and neck. New faces in the dugouts after managerial upheaval and more dubious decisions putting the countries officials under the spotlight.

Celtic Stutter in the Capital

Celtic travelled to Easter Road sat three points clear at the top looking to extend their lead with a win and put further pressure on Rangers who played later that day. Although, Celtic’s drop in performance levels in recent weeks finally caught up with them on the Domestic front as they failed to turn up against Hibs and left the Capital with a single point.

Hibs started the game on the front foot and laid down a marker that the fixture would be far from easy for the Hoops. Celtic lacked any real creativity in the final third and the midfield was losing out to a well organised and hungry looking Hibs side. It has been apparent in previous games that Celtic were not at their best, but they were still managing to grind out results to keep themselves top of the table, but they met their match in a well drilled Shaun Maloney side.

A draw was a fair result for a game that lacked any real quality and Ange Postecoglou’s men were let off with their poor performance as Rangers failed to seize their opportunity in the later kick off.

Rangers Fail to Capitalise on Celtic Slip Up

Rangers went into their game against Motherwell knowing a win would see them move within a point of their city rivals and the Ibrox side were on a high after seeing off Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night to progress to the Europa League Last 16.

They got off to a flying start leading Motherwell 2-0 after 24 minutes after two goals in quick succession and they looked to be cruising towards closing the gap. Any notion of a European hangover was seemingly squashed in the first half but after the break Motherwell made them pay for complacency and fought back to earn a draw which saw them move into the top half of the table. Allan McGregor has come in for criticism on multiple occasions this season with errors leading to dropped points and yesterday he was the villain of the piece for many. Leaking Motherwell’s equaliser at his near post meant he felt the brunt of outrage for supporters with many now thinking it will be his last season between the sticks for Rangers.

Rangers failure to take advantage of Celtic’s draw means they still sit three behind with 10 games left to play.

Dundee’s Struggles Continue

Dundee made the bold call to sack manager James McPake and appoint Mark McGhee to help save the club from relegation two weeks ago and the decision is yet to see any rewards. After a narrow defeat at Celtic Park many hoped this week would have been the opportunity for the club to kick on and claw their way up the table.

However, this was not to be as they were on the end of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Livingston at Dens Park. Mark McGhee watched on from the stands – still serving his touchline ban for another four games- as his side lacked the fight required from a team in a relegation battle.

It was a nightmare start to the game as they sat 3-0 down after only 21 minutes played and the team looked devoid of any energy or desire to get themselves back into the game. The only solace Dundee can take from the weekend is that St.Johnstone failed to capitalise on their relegation rivals drubbing and they remain within touching distance. The Dens Park side will need to show some real character in a tough fixture list leading up to the split to have a fighting chance of staying in the Premiership.