Scottish Premiership roundup: Celtic back on top and Rangers win

Luke McCowan found the net in his first appearance for Celtic, helping the champions regain the top position in the Scottish Premiership with a 3-0 victory over Motherwell.

Lennon Miller had already struck the goalpost twice for the home team when McCowan managed to steal the ball away from Kofi Balmer. He then fired it into the bottom corner from 18 yards out, putting the first goal on the board in the 27th minute.

Alistair Johnston scored to make it 2-0 for Celtic just 11 minutes into the second half, leading to their easiest victory at Fir Park during Brendan Rodgers' tenure. Adam Idah added another goal near the end of the match.

Motherwell defender Liam Gordon was shown a red card with the help of VAR during stoppage time, adding to their woes.

The Rangers had their fans on the edge of their seats once more, ultimately coming away with a 2-1 victory over a determined St Mirren team at Ibrox.

Following their loss to Kilmarnock last week, Philippe Clement's team bounced back with an impressive 4-0 victory in the Europa League against the Romanian team FCSB in Govan on Thursday. However, despite going ahead in the 13th minute thanks to Mohamed Diomande, the squad struggled to maintain their momentum, and captain James Tavernier was initially on the bench.

The lead was rightfully neutralized by Alex Gogic’s header in the 26th minute. However, as tension and frustration frequently echoed from the crowd, Vaclav Cerny, who had previously scored twice against FCSB, stepped in to save the day by finding the net again in the 69th minute, securing the victory.

The Light Blues currently hold third place, trailing Celtic and Aberdeen by six points. As they get ready for their upcoming match at Pittodrie on Wednesday, the team is still without a permanent chairman, chief executive, or director of football. Meanwhile, frustrated fans have once again shown their dissatisfaction by displaying banners.

Neil Critchley commended James Wilson's natural goal-scoring ability after the 17-year-old forward for Hearts came off the bench to score a crucial late equalizer in the Edinburgh derby against Hibernian. The young talent took advantage of a long throw and found the back of the net from just a few yards out in the 87th minute, helping his team secure a 1-1 draw after Mykola Kuharevich had put Hibs ahead in the 65th minute.

Wilson has only come off the bench six times for Hearts, and this marked his second goal in two games with Critchley as the manager, following his first goal for the team against St Mirren last weekend. The Hearts manager praised him, saying, "He's done wonderfully, and that's just who he is—a natural goalscorer, a predator in front of the net. That's what strikers do; they always show up in the perfect spot just when they need to and manage to score."

David Gray believed that the mistake leading to Wilson's goal overshadowed what had been a promising display. "I think it's hard for anyone to argue that we didn't deserve to win based on the opportunities we created," the Hibs manager stated. "For just about the entire match, I felt we were very strong defensively, yet, in my view, we’ve let two points slip away once more."