Rangers Struggle as Celtic Shine: Weekend Football Recap

Derek McInnes walked into Ibrox insisting Rangers “aren’t as bad as people think”. The evidence keeps arguing back.

Another game, another reshuffled back four, another afternoon where basic defensive structure went missing. Against a Hibernian side still riding the high of a European win, Rangers once again looked like a team trapped in last season’s bad habits.

The key moment summed it up. New signing Vanja Dragojevic lost his bearings, hauled Josh Kerr to the turf and handed Hibs a penalty. It wasn’t just a mistake, it was a lapse in composure that spread through the stadium. Groans turned quickly to anger. This is exactly the sort of error McInnes was hired to clean up.

The mood darkened further when Youssef Chermiti was stretchered off, only days after the club had rejected a big-money offer from Galatasaray. A bad result, a worrying injury, and a nagging sense that the rebuild is already under strain.

Across the technical area, David Gray admitted Hibs “rode their luck” at times, but his players did the one thing Rangers could not: they stuck together, dug in and backed up their midweek Conference League qualifying win with a statement victory at Ibrox. The pressure on Gray, for now, eases. On McInnes, it grows heavier with every winless week.

Hogh answers the noise

Kasper Hogh arrived at Celtic with an £11m fee stamped on his back and the word “solution” quietly attached to his name. His debut against Dundee did nothing to calm the chatter. Chances came, chances went, and the questions started.

He answered them in 35 ruthless minutes at Rugby Park.

On Kilmarnock’s new grass pitch, the Dane finally showed why Celtic pushed so hard to get him. His movement inside the box was sharp, his reading of space even sharper. Three goals before half-time, each one delivered with the calm of a striker who trusts his instincts.

Kilmarnock’s defending helped. Neil McCann wants his side to be open and expansive, but nine goals conceded in their first two Premiership games tells its own story. Celtic’s forwards, Hogh in particular, feasted on the gaps. Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan joined in as the champions moved top on goal difference, slicing through a back line that simply could not cope.

McCann’s attacking ideals are admirable. Unless that defence tightens up quickly, they risk spending another season glancing nervously over their shoulders.

Vrancken’s Hearts finally show their teeth

Wouter Vrancken has barely had time to unpack in Edinburgh and already his appointment has been questioned. Early European exits, a collapse at Aberdeen, and a team that looked a shadow of the side that pushed so hard for the title last season – the doubts came fast.

Then Dundee United came to Tynecastle, and Hearts finally bared their teeth.

This was the response Vrancken needed after that 6-1 Europa League qualifying hammering. In front of their own fans, the Jambos clicked in attack and stood firm at the back. For a side missing six players through injury and suspension, the control they showed was significant.

The scoreline flattered them a touch. Dundee United had plenty of the ball, carved out opportunities and moved the game into promising areas, but when it mattered they lacked that final touch, that decisive moment in front of goal.

Hearts, by contrast, were ruthless. They turned pressure into goals and anxiety into momentum. After the week they’d had, it felt like more than three points. It felt like a manager finally getting a foothold.

Phillips lifts St Mirren – and attracts a crowd

Two games, two wins, two clean sheets. St Mirren could not have scripted a better start.

Killian Phillips is driving much of it. After his opening-day double, he settled the meeting of the Saints in Paisley with a composed penalty, once again proving the difference in tight moments. His form is drawing attention, and with his contract ticking into its final year, the questions around his future will only grow louder.

Craig McLeish has been open about it. He wants to help Phillips secure the best move he can when the time comes. For now, St Mirren are enjoying every minute of his influence as they sit level with Celtic at the top of the Premiership in these early weeks.

St Johnstone, newly promoted and buoyed by a winning return to the top flight, played with confidence but not conviction. No shots on target in the first half, a missed penalty, the woodwork rattled – they did plenty right between the boxes and almost everything wrong inside them. Their failure to take chances turned a promising away performance into a frustrating defeat.

Dundee surge as Aberdeen stall

Seven days. Two very different Aberdeens.

Last weekend, they clawed back a game they had no right to win against Hearts, digging in and finding late resolve. At Dens Park, that resilience vanished. Dundee sensed it and never let go.

Steven Pressley’s side won 2-0, but that felt kind on Aberdeen. Joe Bevan ran the show, scoring once and setting up another, the standout in a home performance full of energy and purpose. After a narrow defeat at Celtic Park on the opening day, Dundee looked sharper, more assured and far more clinical.

Aberdeen, by contrast, looked flat. The travelling support voiced their discontent with loud boos, and they were hard to argue with. The effort that had dragged them past Hearts was missing. They didn’t just lose; they drifted through the contest.

The two sides meet again on Saturday in the League Cup. Pressley will demand a repeat. Stephen Robinson needs something close to a reset.

Motherwell steady under Johansson

The worry at Motherwell was simple: could anyone keep Jens Berthel Askou’s momentum alive? So far, Alfred Johansson has done exactly that.

The Steelmen remain unbeaten under the Swede, both in Europe and at home. A clean sheet against Falkirk adds another layer of quiet confidence to a club aiming for yet another top-four finish.

Motherwell started brighter, moving the ball with more intent and controlling the early tempo at Fir Park. Falkirk, though, refused to fold. John McGlynn has lost key players, but his reshaped side grew into the game and ultimately earned a point that should stiffen their belief heading into the season’s first break.

Across the division, the storylines are already stacking up. Rangers searching for a spark, Celtic’s new striker catching fire, Hearts rediscovering their edge, and St Mirren daring to dream at the summit. The question now is simple: who can turn an early flicker into something lasting?