Celtic reclaim Premiership lead with 2-0 win at Motherwell

Celtic moved back above Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 victory away to Motherwell, ending a run of three consecutive defeats. According to the Guardian’s report, goals from Camilo Durán and Benjamin Nygren secured the result at Fir Park, where Jota also made his return to action for Martin O’Neill’s side.

Watch the highlights:

Durán gave Celtic an early lead, and the visitors maintained control despite the efforts of Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen. Nygren added the second goal in the 58th minute to help the champions record their seventh victory in eight league matches this season. Motherwell, meanwhile, suffered a fourth straight defeat, with some home supporters leaving before the final whistle as Celtic closed out the win.

The result followed a difficult international break for Celtic. Their previous match had ended in a home defeat against Rangers, and the intervening three weeks brought renewed friction between supporters and the board alongside uncertainty over O’Neill’s future. Fans continued to display banners and direct chants against major shareholder Dermot Desmond at Fir Park, even as the team secured the points needed to regain first place.

Rangers had temporarily taken over at the summit by beating Kilmarnock 3-1 at Ibrox on Saturday. Ryan Naderi scored two headers, with Kevin Kelsy also on target between those goals, to establish a three-goal half-time advantage. Kilmarnock created opportunities and eventually replied through substitute Nicky Clescenco on a last-minute counterattack. Rangers manager Derek McInnes praised his players’ first-half finishing but said the long international break had affected their cohesion.

Third-placed Hearts also won convincingly, defeating St Mirren 5-0 at Tynecastle. Laurent Mendy opened the scoring in the 20th minute, Calvin Miller converted two penalties either side of the interval, and Cláudio Braga and Josh McPake completed the scoring. The Guardian reported that it was Hearts’ biggest home league victory since their 6-1 defeat of Ross County in April 2023, keeping them behind Celtic and Rangers in the table.

Elsewhere, Ashley Hay scored in stoppage time as Dundee recovered to beat Falkirk 2-1. Hibernian lost 1-0 at Dundee United in Marink Reedijk’s first match as manager, with Daniel Bennie scoring the winner. Hibs finished with 10 players after Jacob Devaney was sent off.