Celtic beaten, Rangers held in boost to Hearts’ title dream

2026-02-22 - 22:23

Hibernian FC players celebrate the 2-1 victory against Celtic, their first win over the side since 2010. (Hibernian FC pic) GLASGOW: Celtic were beaten 2-1 at home by Hibernian for the first time since 2010 on Sunday, while Rangers’ 2-2 draw at bottom-of-the-table Livingston also boosted Hearts’ bid for a first Scottish league title since 1960. Hearts lead Rangers by four points with 10 matches to go and enjoy a six-point cushion over Celtic, who have a game in hand. No side outside the Old Firm giants has won the title in 41 years. A first league defeat in two interim spells in charge of Celtic for Martin O’Neill this season rounded off a miserable few days for the defending champions. O’Neill’s men were thrashed 4-1 by Stuttgart in the Europa League on Thursday amid fan protests over a lack of investment in the side in recent transfer windows. A seventh league defeat of the campaign leaves the Hoops with a mountain to climb, especially with a visit to Rangers to come next weekend. Felix Passlack fired Hibs in front, but Benjamin Nygren levelled before half-time. Celtic have made a habit of late winners in recent weeks, but were forced to play out the final 16 minutes a man down when Auston Trusty was shown a red card after a VAR review for an-off-the-ball incident. Hibs made the man advantage count when Kai Andrews blasted in the winner in the 87th minute to do their Edinburgh rivals a huge favour in the title race. Livingston have not won in 26 league games but were minutes away from stunning Rangers and did enough to inflict a blow on their title chances. Rangers trailed 2-0 inside the final 10 minutes as goals from Brooklyn Kabongolo and Lewis Smith gave Livie the lead. However, a red card for Cristian Montano on the hour mark proved the turning point. Emmanuel Fernandez reduced the deficit with a thunderous strike in the 81st minute and Mikey Moore levelled with two minutes remaining but Marvin Bartley’s side held out during nine added minutes to clinch a point.