Jambos Break Motherwell's Hearts, Rangers Top on Thriller, VAR Chaos at Rugby Park: Scottish Premiership Review

Jambos Break Motherwell's Hearts, Rangers Top on Thriller, VAR Chaos at Rugby Park: Scottish Premiership Review

Match Previews/Reviews

Scottish Premiership - Round 33 Review

The final round of fixtures before the Premiership splits up and before next weekend's Scottish Cup's semi-finals and this round of fixtures looked like it would produce drama and goals.

Hearts and Motherwell met at Tynecastle hoping for a repeat of August's classic 3-3 draw, Celtic met St. Mirren for the first time since the Premier Sports Cup final and Aberdeen were looking for a first win under Stephen Robinson.

Falkirk 3-6 Rangers

Broggio (6'), Yeats (26'), Miller (70' Pen); Chukwuani (42'), Chermiti (47', 74'), Raskin (52'), Miovski (58', 88')

After two previous draws between Falkirk and Rangers this season, the hosts were unbeaten in their last four home matches against Rangers on a run stretching back to August 2014. But Falkirk came into the game without a top-flight win over Rangers since December 2006.

Falkirk started the match on the front foot and went in front in the opening minutes; the ball broke kindly into the path of Calvin Miller who sent in an excellent low cross into the penalty area where Ben Broggio was there to tab home from close range. Falkirk were looking lively and threatened every time they went forward and doubled their lead after only 25 minutes on the clock; Tait's attempted cross was deflected off Tochi Chukwuani and went straight into the path of Finn Yeats, who curled a first time shot past Jack Butland and into the net.

Rangers were looking beyond their best in the first-half but they managed to get themselves back into the match, just before the break; Thelo Aasgaard's shot hit the post and went as far out to Nico Raskin who crossed the ball back towards the danger area and the ball landed on the head of Djeidi Gassama, whose header also hit the post, but Chukwuani was alert to convert the rebound. But the Falkirk defence were at a standstill as they stopped all together believing that Raskin's cross had curled out of play but VAR were unable to determine if the ball had gone out of play and the goal was awarded.

In the second-half Rangers started on the front foot looking for an equaliser and they got it when Gassama won the ball off Keelan Adams and was able to send in a low cross to Youssef Chermiti who managed to turn the ball past Scott Bain and the visitors were back in the match. And remarkably enough just five minutes later Danny Rohl's side went ahead when Aasgaard played in Raskin who bursting into the box and took a shot, on a difficult angle, which found the far corner.

Rangers were looking like a totally different team in this second-half and they raced into a two goal lead when Raskin crossed, from the left hand side, where substitute Bojan Miovski read the cross perfectly and managed to head home past Scott Bain. But the drama was only about to increase as Rangers offered Falkirk a route back into the game when James Tavernier brought down Filip Lissah in the box and Don Robertson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot for a Falkirk penalty; Calvin Miller stepped up and, although Butland dived the right way, scored and it was game on once again.

An excellent game was continuing to develop and remarkably Falkirk almost got themselves an equaliser; Brad Spencer played in Calvin Miller who was on the edge of the box, and the influential winger's shot curled wide of Butland's far post. Rangers then punished the Bairns as they restored their two goal lead, Miovski played in Gassama on the left and the winger's shot came off Falkirk captain Coll Donaldson and perfectly into the path of Chermiti who scored his second goal of the day. And the scoring was complete in the dying minutes when substitute Oliver Antman sent a low cross into the six yard box where Miovski found his second goal of the afternoon.

A nine goal thriller for the fans who paid the admission fee and they witnessed some excellent entertainment. It's back-to-back defeats for Falkirk but they more than played their part of an excellent game. As for Rangers, it's four Premiership wins in a row and they have scored fourteen goals in their last three league games.

Hearts 3-1 Motherwell

Braga (61'), Shankland (87' Pen), Kaborรฉ (90+2'); Longelo (50')

It was back to home comforts for Hearts after their entertaining match at Livingston last Sunday, the Premiership leaders came into the match unbeaten at Tynecastle and were facing a Motherwell side who have lost three of their last four matches. Last time these sides met in Gorgie it produced one of the games of the season when Motherwell went 3-0 up after 60 minutes but Hearts came back to draw level.

The first-half produced very little clear cut chances for either side, the league leaders were the ones who came the closest when Paul McGinn fouled Claudio Braga for a Hearts free-kick; Blair Spittal crossed in the free-kick which found the head of Oisin McEntee but was saved well by Calum Ward in the Motherwell goal and eventually cleared away by McGinn.

In the second-half Motherwell came out on the front foot and could have went ahead when Emmanuel Longelo crossed into the box to Tawanda Maswanhise but his shot, from a difficult angle, missed the target. But the Well would get their goal to put themselves ahead just two minutes later with an excellent quick counter attack which eventually seen Maswanhise crossing from the right hand side into the path of Lukas Fadinger, who broke into the box, and the midfielder flicked the ball into the path of Longelo who had an open goal and tapped the ball into the net and the Well lead at Tynecastle once again this season.

But Hearts would respond ten minutes later when Blair Spittal's corner was nodded at the back post by Stuart Findlay back towards goal where Claudio Braga managed to scoop the ball over his head and past Ward in goal and the Jambos were on level terms. But Motherwell were not out of the game by a long way and could of went back ahead when Paul McGinn found Maswanhise who sprinted into the box with the ball but his shot was poor and dragged wide at Alexander Schwolow's right hand post.

Then Hearts had the opportunity to put themselves ahead; a free-kick was played into the box and Motherwell could not clear the danger which led to Stephen Welsh catching Pierre Landry Kabore in the head, referee Matthew McDermid did not give the decision on field but a VAR on field check eventually lead to a Hearts penalty kick. Lawrence Shankland was on spot kick duties and the Hearts captain sent Ward the wrong way and the Jambos were in front late on. And the win was secured in stoppage time when Beni Baningime started a fast counter attack and the midfielder found Kabore, who had Welsh for company, but the striker managed to find the back of the net.

Back to winning ways for Hearts and they would remain the Premiership leaders heading into the league split as for Motherwell they are without a win in five, with four losses in five games.

Celtic 1-0 St. Mirren

Oxlade-Chamberlain (15')

It was part one of a league and cup double meeting between Celtic and St. Mirren, next week it will be a second meeting at Barclays Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, but first it was league business as Celtic were looking for back-to-back Premiership wins. St. Mirren came into the game on the back of two wins on the bounce and Craig McLeish's interim spell as Buddies boss was going well.

Celtic started the match on the front foot; Benjamin Nygren, arguably Celtic's player of the year, played in Callum McGregor who tried one of his speciality shots from outside the box but saved well by Shamal George but the ball was played back into the path of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who followed the ball past the Buddies goalkeeper but was denied by an offside flag. Minutes later St. Mirren went up the pitch with their first attack of the game; Killian Phillips played in Jonah Ayunga but his shot could not trouble Viljami Sinisalo in the Celtic goal.

The hosts then displayed an excellent move which resulted in the opening goal; Ngyren crossed in from the right hand side to Kieran Tierney who passed to McGregor whose shot came off Alex Gogic and the ball fell kindly into the path of Oxlade-Chamberlain who once again found the net and this time it counted and Celtic were ahead after 15 minutes on the clock.

St. Mirren were forced into a change when Shamal George had to be subbed off after taking a nasty blow to the head after a collision with Celtic striker Tomas Cvancara, substitute goalkeeper Ryan Mullen came on to replace the on-loan Wycombe keeper. And Mullen was needed almost immediately; another good move from Celtic which seen Oxlade-Chamberlain play in Nygren who was on the edge of the box and the Sweden international tried his luck from outside the box but Mullen held on well and kept the danger out.

The Buddies best chance of the first-half came in stoppage time when Declan John's corner which reached the near post where Mikael Mandron got on the end of the delivery but the ball went over the bar.

The second-half became a midfield battle with very few clear cut chances by either sides; the best of the half came when Daizen Maeda crossed low into the penalty box where Kelechi Iheanacho got on the end of the cross but was unable to convert from close range. And St. Mirren put themselves into decent areas throughout the second half but lacked cutting edge when it mattered; the closest they came when Jacob Devaney tried his luck from distance but was saved well by Sinisalo. And Celtic's goalkeeper was needed to keep out a late Roland Idowu effort in the dying minutes.

Back-to-back wins for Celtic which sees them remain in third place in the table after the wins for both Hearts and Rangers this weekend. St. Mirren will be hoping for better next week as they try and secure back-to-back Hampden wins over the Parkhead club this season.

Kilmarnock 2-2 Dundee

Hugill (14'), Schjonning-Larsen (33'); Murray (24'), Wright (81')

If Kilmarnock will end up avoiding the relegation playoff at the end of the season it would helped largely due to their Rugby Park record under Neil McCann, Killie have won four of their last five home matches and were looking for a first home win over Dundee this season after a draw in the league and a defeat in the Scottish Cup.

Killie were on the front foot from the start and went ahead after 14 minutes on the clock; Luke Graham's header dropped perfectly to the feet of Greg Kiltie who feed in Bruce Anderson and the striker turned and his shot at goal was deflected off Graham and perfectly into the path of Joe Hugill who pounced on the ball quickly and put Kilmarnock in front.

Dundee responded 10 minutes later when Tony Yogane beat Jamie Brandon down the left hand side and swung in a brilliant delivery into the box where Simon Murray found space and managed to bury a downward header past Kelle Roos and Dundee were level. And it could have two for Murray just minutes later when Ethan Hamilton took a shot from around 30 yards out and was saved by Roos but the ball fell into the onrushing Murray who scored but VAR eventually ruled the goal out due to the striker being in an offside position.

Just minutes after Murray's disallowed goal, Kilmarnock scored their second with their next meaningful attack when Greg Kiltie tried his luck in front of goal but his attempt was cleared away by Billy Koumetio but the ball went only as far to Michael Schjonning-Larsen who curled in an excellent low drilled effort past Jon McCracken and Killie went back in front for the second time of the game.

Into the second-half and Kilmarnock could and probably should have a third goal; Findlay Curtis' back-post header, from a Tom Lowery cross, went close but did trouble McCracken in the Dundee goal. And quickly after Hugill was denied by McCracken as the striker's shot was on a difficult angle which was well matched by the Dundee number one.

Dundee managed to get themselves an equaliser late on in the game; two substitutes combined well for the Dees' leveller, Imari Samuels split the Kilmarnock defence and sent in Scott Wright down the left hand side and the Birmingham loanee sent a excellent finish past Roos and a point was heading back to the City of Discovery.

However the biggest drama was still to come; Charlie Reilly crossed in on the right and Jamie Brandon brought down Scott Wright in the box and referee Ross Hardie pointed straight to the penalty spot for a late Dundee penalty kick. However VAR intervened to check the on-field decision as they believed Wright was offside in the buildup to the decision being awarded, but time dragged on and the VAR check and the on-field monitor check took in total nine minutes. The penalty was officially confirmed and the wait weighed down on Joe Westley who seen his spot kick saved by Roos.

Kilmarnock remain in the relegation playoff spot but are now two adrift of tenth place St. Mirren heading into the split. As for Dundee they are five points clear of the relegation playoff spot but the main talking point of both managers was the long penalty decision with Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann admitting after full-time that there was technical issues with VAR and that the on-field decision had to stand after an issue with the system to draw the lines for offside decisions.

Dundee United 3-2 Livingston

Ferry (19'), Keresztes (75'), Sapsford (90+3' Pen); Smith (49', 53')

Dundee United came into the match against Livingston looking to win three home Premiership matches in a row for the first time since October 2021. They were hoping to get that against Livingston who have shown fight in their relegation battle, it's case of when not if Livi get relegated but Marvin Bartley's side had only lost once in their last six games but were still looking for a first league win since August.

Lewis Smith had the first real goalscoring opportunity in this match, the Livi striker tried his luck from outside the box but his shot was saved by United keeper Dave Richards who parried the ball down to safety. But just minutes later United went in front when Max Watters played in Will Ferry who was breaking down the left hand side and his shot went through the legs of Danny Wilson and into the back of the net.

But Livi were looking for a leveller, just before half-time, Cammy Kerr sent a throw into the United box which found the head of Joel Nouble who flicked back to goal but Richards was able to turn the ball out of play for a corner kick. Stevie May played the corner into the box and his delivery found the head of Danny Finlayson who beat the United goalkeeper but his header glanced wide of the post.

Livi came out of the second-half on the front foot and managed to get an equaliser when Nouble robbed Iurie Iovu and advanced into the box and squared the ball perfectly to Lewis Smith who fired home. And Smith was showing his quality when he got his and Livi's second when the visiting keeper Prior punted the ball upfield where Smith was on the attack, down the right side, the striker advanced into the box and put the ball past Richards and into the net.

But United responded late on when Will Ferry crossed into the box, from a corner kick, and Krisztian Keresztes made a run and got on the end of the cross and headed home past Prior and it was game on with a quarter of the match remaining at Tannadice. And just as when it looked like both teams were going to take a point from the game United were awarded a late penalty kick, Brooklyn Kabongolo brought down Zac Sapsford from behind and the Australian took the spot kick himself and sent Prior the wrong way and the points were remaining at the tangerine side of Dundee.

Three home wins on the spin for United for the first time since 2021 and it's a win that should secure United of survival if there was any doubts of relegation before today. As for Livingston they remain twelve points behind Kilmarnock and have only five games remaining if they want any hope of remaining in the Premiership.

Aberdeen 2-0 Hibernian

Nisbet (17' Pen, 75'); Hanley ๐ŸŸฅ (16')

Aberdeen were looking for a first Premiership win since the 24th of January, a winless of run of nine games, has seen the Dons in and amongst the relegation playoff battle. Not a good time perhaps to be facing Hibernian as the Hibees won the previous two matchups against Aberdeen this season and had won three of their last five visits to Pittodrie, Aberdeen had only won once at home v Hibernian in a run going back to May 2023.

The game got off to a slow start but burst into life after fifteen minutes; Toyosi Olusanya raced onto a ball that was played over the top from Emmanuel Gyamfi and was brought down in the box by Grant Hanley who had hauled the striker back. David Dickinson was unmoved but following a VAR on-field check a penalty kick to Aberdeen was awarded and the Scotland defender was shown a straight red card. Kevin Nisbet stepped up to take the penalty and sent Raphael Sallinger the wrong way and the Dons were ahead.

Aberdeen then with the man advantage started to create chances; Stuart Armstrong just narrowly went over with a curling effort from outside the box. Gyamfi then came close with a cross that almost sneaked under Sallinger's crossbar and just moments later Olusanya had the ball in the back of the net, after following in from Lyall Cameron's shot, but the on-loan Houston Dynamo striker was in an offside position. And just before half-time Gyamfi clashed with Hibernian striker Dane Scarlett and went under a VAR review for a possible red card but ultimately received a yellow for his actions.

Aberdeen came out of half-time brighter when Olusanya flashed a shot across goal but could not find the back of the net. But whilst Aberdeen were in control, Hibernian were not of the game and could been level when Owen Elding broke through towards goal but was denied by Dons keeper Dimitar Mitov. But the Dons continued to threaten and Afeez Aremu's effort was curled away from goal.

But the Dons finally scored a second goal, and it was no more than their play deserved, Kevin Nisbet once again against his former club found the back of the net when his drive crashed off the underside of the crossbar. The play still continued by a VAR check ruled that the ball had crossed the line and the points were staying with Aberdeen.

Stephen Robinson's first win as Dons manager and they leapfrogged over Dundee into eighth place and are five points clear of the relegation playoff spot. As for Hibernian it was a first defeat since the 10th of February and a dent for David Gray's side as they push for a place in Europe at the beginning of next season.

Aaron McIntosh
Aaron McIntosh Scottish Football Writer

Aaron McIntosh - Scottish Football Writer at Football Park

Aaron joined the Football Park team after being an a part of the successful Scots Media Collective team which ran the popular X (formerly known as Twitter) page, Everything Scotland. In November 2025, Scots Media Collective officially joined Football Park to create the Football Park - Scotland team, Aaron remains in previous post as one of the social media admins for the X and Instagram Football Park - Scotland pages and has also become writer for the website.

A passionate Scottish football fan; Aaron supports his local football club Raith Rovers, attending his first match in 2006 and has been a season ticket holder at Stark's Park since 2010. Aaron is also a Scotland Supporters Club member for over 12 years and attends many of the National Team matches at Hampden Park, his first Scotland match came in 2013 when they hosted Wales. Aaron also attended Euro 2024 in Germany supporting his country.

Aaron was a part of the short lived 'The Pub League Podcast' team, which launched in 2021 in preparation for Euro 2020 and for the upcoming Scottish football season in 2021/22. He is now a finding member of the Scots Media Collective's 'Scots With A Mic' podcast which now, along with the social media accounts, is a part of Football Park - Scotland branch.

View all articles by Aaron McIntosh →

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