It could be a significant weekend in the Scottish Premiership title race as Celtic surged to a 7 point lead over the Rangers. That will leave Giovanni van Bronckhorst facing even more questions about his future, with the Ibrox slide showing no signs of stopping. With two more games left before the World Cup break, the Hoops are guaranteed to go into it top of the table.
Celtic were dominant throughout their home win over Dundee United on Saturday but circumstances meant that they left it late in a glorious end to the game. Two goals right at the end, from Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada, added to two first-half strikes from Sead Haksabanovic to seal a 4-2 win.
On the other hand, Rangers were returning from their loss at home to Ajax which gave them the record of the worst performance in Champions League Group stage history. Much was expected of them on Sunday against St Johnstone as they tried to keep in touch with the Hoops. But it looked like Van Bronckhorst’s side crumbled under the pressure.
Rangers huffed and puffed and certainly dominated possession, but it was a dire performance in front of goal and even worse in terms of the result. St Johnstone claimed a 2-1 victory at home, as the Ibrox side did nowhere near enough to even equalise never mind win.
Rangers fans react to another loss as Celtic go 7 points clear at the top
It would be an understatement to say that the Rangers fans were not happy with the result. And they let it be known on Twitter:
That’s twice Celtic have snatched a late win and Rangers have subsequently dropped points. It’s almost like we have a mentality issue. That’s on the players but the manager doesn’t survive this. We needed maximum points before the WC and gave failed. Gio out!
— Dougie (@CF3Loyal) November 6, 2022
We haven’t got bad players btw. Their confidence is shot to bits also. The bottom line is, there being coached appallingly.
— 🇬🇧 cozy1872 🇬🇧 (@cozy1872) November 6, 2022
Bye Bye Gio 👋
— Baldy Bassey 😎 (@Baldy_Bassey) November 6, 2022
With many questions already being asked throughout this season about Van Bronckhorst’s future as manager, this defeat combined with the awful Champions League campaign and Celtic’s magnificent end to yesterday’s game will crank up that pressure even further.
Van Bronckhorst may well be walking the managerial tightrope. He wasn’t in charge for last season’s League Cup semi-final, that may well be the case again this season.