Celtic determined to spoil Rangers party
GLASGOW -- Celtic have the chance to ruin a potential title party for Rangers on Sunday if they beat Hibernian at Parkhead the day before.
The Hoops midweek win over Motherwell coupled with Rangers' goalless draw with Dundee United means the gap at the top of the Scottish Premier League has been reduced to 11 points.
And with five games remaining the league leaders need Celtic to drop points against Hibs if they are to clinch the title on home turf against Hearts.
However, they can expect no favours from their fierce rivals who would love nothing more than to ruin their celebrations.
A disappointing season for Celtic was capped off when they crashed to a 2-0 defeat to First Division Ross County in their Scottish Cup semi-final clash last weekend.
And interim manager Neil Lennon wants his players to finish the season on a high as they attempt to make amends with their supporters.
"I want to win the next five games. That's three league games we have won in a row - which is very pleasing - with a huge aberration in the middle of them in terms of losing to Ross County," Lennon said.
"I don't look back, but I don't look too far forward, either. Obviously, that stench from the semi-final will linger for a while until we can rectify it in the eyes of the supporters."
This weekend's match has come too quickly for Celtic's trio of injured central defenders Thomas Rogne, Glenn Loovens and Jos Hooiveld who are close to making a return.
One positive for Rangers that came out of their draw with United was the return to action of Madjid Bougherra after two months out injured.
The central defender said the players were disappointed to only pick up a point at Tannadice and admitted they would be cheering on Hibs in their game against Celtic so they could wrap up the title as quickly as possible.
"There is a possibility that we could win the title at Ibrox on Sunday but it depends on the Celtic result. We will see what happens there," Bougherra said.
"We want a draw or a defeat for Celtic so there can be a good atmosphere at Ibrox if we win. It is better to have the title at home. I hope Hibs do well.
"We need to be careful because in football you don't know what will happen. Yes, we have a big gap, but we have to win it quickly so we can be sure.
"The players are still very confident. In training, the atmosphere is normal. It is the same on the pitch. There is no more pressure. We are enjoying it."
Rangers have no injury problems for the match against Hearts with long-term injury Kirk Broadfoot back in training. Only goal difference is keeping a Falkirk side who have won their last two games bottom of the league.
They travel to Pittodrie to take on an Aberdeen team in crisis having only chalked up one win in their last 15 matches.
Hamilton host a Kilmarnock side desperate for points as they hover one point above the relegation zone. St Mirren, who are only above Falkirk on goal difference, face a tough fixture away to a St Johnstone side that narrowly missed out on a place in the top six.
Also on Sunday, Motherwell host Dundee United at Fir Park. Motherwell are still in the hunt for a European spot despite three defeats in a row while United are chasing Celtic for second place.
Fixtures (1500 GMT unless otherwise stated)
Saturday
Aberdeen v Falkirk
Celtic v Hibernian (1215)
Hamilton v Kilmarnock
St Johnstone v St Mirren
Sunday
Motherwell v Dundee United (1615)
Rangers v Hearts (1230)
Copyright (c) 2010 AFP
Brown hails Raith Rovers for cup
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Raith Rovers could "forever be proud" of their achievement in reaching the Active Nation Scottish Cup semi-finals.
The players are hoping to emulate the success of fellow First Division side Ross County, who beat Celtic to book their place in next month's final.
Around 8,000 fans are expected to descend on Hampden Park to see their side take on Scottish Premier League side Dundee United.
Copyright (c) 2010 The Press Association
BOUGHERRA AND BROADFOOT STILL OUT
Rangers have no fresh injury worries ahead of their Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against St Johnstone.
Madjid Bougherra and Kirk Broadfoot both remain on the sidelines and will not make the trip to Perth for the rearranged clash.
Bougherra is expected to be out of action for another week or so with a hamstring injury, while Broadfoot is also struggling with a similar problem.
Kenny Deuchar will be fit for clash at McDiarmid Park. The striker was taken off at half-time in the defeat at Hamilton on Saturday suffering from concussion after a clash of heads but has recovered.
Manager Derek McInnes has no fresh injuries for the visit of the Ibrox men.
Teams
Rangers (from): McGregor, Whittaker, Papac, Weir, Wilson, Davis, Smith, Thomson, McCulloch, Edu, Naismith, Miller, Novo, Boyd, Beasley, Fleck, Little, Alexander.
St Johnstone (from): Smith, Grainger, Duberry, MacKay, Connolly, Samuel, Morris, Craig, Morais, Davidson, Sheridan, Millar, Deuchar, Anderson, Sheerin, Main, Irvine, Swankie.
(c)2010 365 Media Group Ltd
Driver's derby delight
Andrew Driver made a goalscoring return as Hearts sealed a 2-1 Edinburgh derby victory over Hibernian with two goals in three first-half minutes.
Driver lashed home the 24th-minute opener on his first appearance for more than six weeks, after a knee injury, and Gary Glen soon turned home the second.
Hearts should have put the Scottish Premier League clash far beyond Hibs but Derek Riordan's 79th-minute goal set up an interesting finale.
The hosts held on without serious danger though as manager Jim Jefferies enjoyed a winning return to the fixture in his second spell as Hearts boss.
Jefferies took a risk by handing Driver only his second start since the teams drew at Easter Road on November 7, but it paid off in style as Hearts secured an important victory amid pressure from St Johnstone for a top-six place, while cutting the gap on their city rivals to seven points.
Hibernian were without skipper Chris Hogg as they missed the chance to move above Motherwell in the race for Europe with their recent record now reading just one win in seven SPL games.
Sol Bamba made a solid start in place of Hogg in central defence and Hearts' injury problems were exacerbated when centre-back Dawid Kucharski went off in the 18th minute.
Suso Santana came on at right midfield and, with Jose Goncalves absent through injury, Lee Wallace moved alongside Eggert Jonsson in central defence with Ruben Palazuelos filling in at left-back.
But Hearts soon took the lead when Suso's cross hit off the outside of the post and fell for Driver to volley into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
Hearts immediately made another change with Ryan Stevenson replacing Black after the midfielder failed to shake off a head injury.
But they doubled their lead when Glen nodded home from close range after Eggert Jonsson had headed on Driver's corner. Hearts soon twice went close from the same source but John Rankin cleared Jonsson's volley off the line and David Obua headed over from eight yards.
Hibs looked shaken and they survived another scare from a Driver corner when Palazuelos failed to turn a bouncing ball on target from close range.
Hibs continued with Anthony Stokes as a lone striker and the second half did not start any better for them with Hearts missing two chances inside 90 seconds.
Obua hooked over Jason Thomson's cross and Suso missed an open goal from inside the six-yard box after Obua's low cross had taken out Graham Stack, although the Spaniard was under intense pressure from two opponents.
Glen missed another glorious chance in the 53rd minute when Obua's return pass played him clean through but the youngster over-ran the ball as he went round Stack.
Hibs brought on Abdessalam Benjelloun for Rankin to move to a 4-4-2 formation but Glen went close again when he found space to glance Kingston's free-kick towards the corner of the goal, with Stack stretching to push it away.
Hibs finally began to push Hearts back but the hosts remained resolute and Driver nearly netted a brilliant goal after flicking the ball over Ian Murray and hooking it past Stack, only for Lewis Stevenson to clear off the line.
Benjelloun shot over from 20 yards and Hibs did not look like getting back into the game, but Riordan netted out of the blue.
Several Hearts players missed the chance to clear David Wotherspoon's low cross from the right and Riordan fired the ball in off the bar at the back post.
But Hibs were unable to take advantage of their avenue back into the match and Stack saved from Suso and Stevenson as Hearts comfortably held on.
Copyright (c)2010 ESPN Internet Ventures
FALKIRK FURIOUS OVER PENALTY DECISION
Falkirk defender Brian McLean has echoed the anger of manager Steven Pressley over the crucial penalty decision which paved the way for St Johnstone's vital 2-1 win on Saturday.
The Bairns boss launched a furious attack on referee Stevie O'Reilly and is likely to find himself in trouble from the Scottish Football Association.
Pressley claimed bottom side Falkirk are "an easy club to make decisions against" and demanded headlines from his tirade, rather than "getting a couple of paragraphs."
The former Scotland centre-half felt McLean showed "absolutely no intent" to handle Kenny Deuchar's header on the stroke of half-time.
But O'Reilly disagreed and Saints, having been second best and behind to Marc Twaddle's close-range 27th-minute finish, profited when Liam Craig tucked home the penalty for his ninth goal of the season.
McLean was not as vociferous as his manager but said: "I was annoyed at the penalty. It was a massive decision, especially on the stroke of half-time. It pulled them back into the game, one they weren't even featuring in.
"The referees have got to be working together as a team. We had two or three claims up at Dundee United recently and the referee never gave them that day.
"They had one claim on Saturday but my back was to goal, my hands were by my side, there is nothing I could have done.
"I wasn't watching where the ball was going, trying to intercept it with my hands at all.
"The referees have got to sing off the one hymn sheet and work together as a team, like what we have to do to pull ourselves out of this."
In contrast, Saints boss Derek McInnes felt it was a penalty and Deuchar agreed.
He added: "The defender leaves himself open to it because he has jumped with his arms out and tried to get something on it to block the ball.
"I've had a good header back into the six-yard box and it's come off his arm, so I can't really see how he can complain about that."
Towards the end of a lacklustre second half, worse followed for the Bairns when Deuchar netted the 84th-minute winner.
Tam Scobbie completely misjudged a long ball and Deuchar took advantage by lobbing Robert Olejnik.
The result leaves Falkirk four points adrift at the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, having played a game less than 11th-placed St Mirren, while St Johnstone move up to seventh.
Deuchar added: "When the ball came forward I actually thought it was too long for him (Scobbie) to get anything on it. He just managed to get a wee clip on it and it went right into my path.
"Fortunately, the goalkeeper put himself in no-man's land and I made up my mind early to knock it over him."
McLean added: "Tam is a good player, he will come back from this. All we can do as a team is stick by him and pull in the one direction to get ourselves out of this."
Saints are six points behind sixth-placed Hearts, but boast three games in hand on the Edinburgh side, one coming at home to Aberdeen on Tuesday night.
Deuchar said: "It was a massive win for us, maybe we can start looking up the way rather than behind us."
(c)2010 365 Media Group Ltd
Rangers beat St Mirren, open 13 point gap over CelticGLASGOW -- Lee McCulloch scored a double as Rangers came from behind to seal a 3-1 win over St Mirren at Ibrox on Saturday that increases their lead in the Scottish Premier League to 13 points.
With rivals Celtic not playing Falkirk until Sunday, the hosts knew they could pile the pressure on with a win over a side they have already defeated twice in the past six weeks.
"It was always going to be a difficult game for us after the Old Firm game last week and then everyone disappears to international duty," Rangers manager Walter Smith said.
"We managed to hit the post twice and the bar and overall I am pleased with the win."
McCulloch picked up two goals either side of half-time after St Mirren's Graham Carey stunned Ibrox by opening the scoring on the 30-minute mark.
On-loan Celtic starlet Carey rifled a low shot past Rangers' Allan McGregor with the keeper left rooted to the spot.
But their lead lasted just two minutes by smashing home a free-kick on two minutes as McCulloch fired Rangers level.
The Buddies keeper then made saves from Davis and an acrobatic attempt from Danny Wilson as Rangers pushed for another before half-time
Within 45 seconds of the restart Rangers had the lead. Papac's cross from the left was headed to the edge of the box by Boyd where McCulloch lashed a shot into the ground which bounced over Gallacher for his second of the game.
Rangers hit the post three times in a game that was rich in attacking play and substitute Nacho Novo converted an easy tap-in on 78 minutes from a Steven Davis centre.
Davis had come close to scoring himself in the first-half when his swerving free-kick crashed off the bar with Gallacher beaten and Sasa Papac's left-foot shot from the rebound hit the woodwork.
Rangers' victory lays the groundwork for the league cup final where they will meet St Mirren again in two weeks time.
Elsewhere in the Scottish Premier League, Hibernian moved to third spot with a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, Hamilton and Aberdeen drew 1-1 and Motherwell won 2-1 away to St Johnstone.
Copyright (c) 2010 AFP
Referees favour Rangers over Celtic - claim
The issue surfaced again ahead of Sunday's Old Firm game at Ibrox when unconfirmed reports emerged saying that Celtic were considering contacting the Scottish Football Association to express
their concern and frustration over refereeing decisions that have gone against them this season, notably in two games against Rangers.
The match itself added fuel to the fire when Celtic skipper Scott Brown was sent off in the 1-0 defeat following a tussle with Rangers midfielder Kyle Lafferty, who escaped unpunished.
McNeill, who skippered Celtic to their European Cup win in 1967 and who later had two spells as manager, told the Scottish Sun: "Celtic have been suffering referee injustices against Rangers for 50 years.
"The big decisions have always gone against my club and in favour of Rangers. "Nothing has changed.
"I felt that way as a player, during two spells as manager and now as a spectator.
"This season I've seen it in each of three derbies - and what happened at Ibrox on Sunday was as disappointing as any I've had to stomach.
"I believe that when it comes to players being red-carded and booked, Rangers have been more favourably treated than Celtic.
"Yes, we have been unfairly treated."
McNeill gave no indication of why he felt that referees were favouring Rangers.
(c)2009 AVUSA, Inc
|
