Scottish Premiership roundup: Rangers’ latest slip gifts Celtic 14-point lead at top
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A second-half double from substitute Hamza Igamane rescued a 2-2 draw for Rangers at Motherwell but the disjointed visitors fell further behind Premiership leaders Celtic. Philippe Clement came under fresh fire following the 2-1 Boxing Day defeat at St Mirren and there was uproar among the travelling supporters as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos put the hosts ahead in the 16th minute before Tawanda Maswanhise added a second in the 35th minute. Half-time replacement Igamane reduced the deficit in the 50th minute before Well boss Stuart Kettlewell was shown a red card by referee Kevin Clancy, possibly for dissent.
![[Callum McGregor and Celtic teammates applaud the fans]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/59590c7ddbad5f76bc0c69e37401284298880724/0_0_4983_3322/master/4983.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Then, after Motherwell twice had the ball in the Rangers net only for infringements to rule out goals, Igamane’s curling shot in the 68th minute made it 2-2. Despite 10 added minutes the comeback could not be completed which means the Light Blues are 14 points behind Celtic, with the title all but gone and Clement’s future uncertain.
Kyogo Furuhashi netted twice in five second-half minutes as Celtic extended their lead at the top with a one-sided 4-0 win over St Johnstone. Nicolas Kühn opened the scoring and substitute Daizen Maeda rounded off Celtic’s second 4-0 victory in three days.
The win put Celtic further out of sight of Rangers before their visit to Ibrox on 2 January. It also completed a highly fruitful 2024 for Celtic, who end the year with just two defeats in all competitions plus all three major domestic trophies in their cabinet as well as their healthy lead in the table.
