Rangers launched a stunning second-half assault to overturn a two-goal deficit and demolish Falkirk 6-3 in a chaotic Scottish Premiership showdown. The victory propels Rangers back into second place, trailing leaders Hearts by a single point as the title race intensifies.
Falkirk seized control early, with Calvin Miller delivering a low cross that Ben Broggio converted after just six minutes, exploiting Rangers’ shaky defense. The hosts doubled their advantage in the 26th minute when Finn Yeats unleashed a fierce strike from the edge of the box, beating Jack Butland. Rangers’ first-half performance was disjointed, but Tochi Chukwuani injected hope in bizarre fashion just before halftime. In the 42nd minute, he tapped in from close range after Falkirk players stopped, mistakenly believing a cross had gone out of play before it struck the post and rebounded to him. The video assistant referee reviewed the incident, but with replays inconclusive, the goal stood.
The second half erupted into a Rangers blitz. Youssef Chermiti leveled the score in the 47th minute, finishing simply from Djeidi Gassama’s cross. Five minutes later, Nicolas Raskin smashed a superb shot into the far corner, celebrating by leaping into the stands and accidentally banging his head on a jubilant supporter. Unfazed, Raskin continued to orchestrate the attack, setting up Bojan Miovski in the 58th minute for a close-range finish that made it 4-2.
Falkirk briefly threatened a comeback when Calvin Miller converted a penalty in the 70th minute after James Tavernier fouled Filip Lissah. However, Chermiti extinguished any hopes four minutes later with a thunderous blast from the edge of the area, and Miovski added his second in the 88th minute to seal the 6-3 rout.
Elsewhere, Celtic secured a narrow 1-0 victory over St Mirren to temporarily claim second place. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the decisive goal in the 15th minute, rifling into the bottom right corner after Kieran Tierney’s setup, though he had an earlier effort ruled out for offside. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill acknowledged his team’s struggle, stating, “The energy levels looked low, which if it had been the last 10 minutes of the game, and you’re holding on to something, I can understand, but it set in pretty early in the second half. It seemed to befall a number of us at the same time, which is a bit of a worry. We’ve stayed in the hunt and in fairness to the players they did dig it out in the end. St Mirren played very well, particularly in the second half, and we just couldn’t get the elusive second goal, a wee bit like Dundee last week, but this time we created much less. But we stayed strong.”
Hearts maintained their grip on top spot with a dramatic 3-1 win over Motherwell. After a goalless first half at Tynecastle, Emmanuel Longelo put Motherwell ahead, but Cláudio Braga equalized with an overhead kick. The match seemed headed for a draw until Stephen Welsh was penalized for fouling Landry Kaboré, allowing Lawrence Shankland to convert a late penalty. Kaboré then added a third in added time to secure the points. Hearts manager Derek McInnes praised his squad’s resilience, saying, “There’s no two ways about it – we were under the cosh. But I still felt quite calm in the sense I thought we would score. We very rarely don’t score, particularly here at Tynecastle. Thankfully Braga comes up with a big moment. The reaction of the players is magnificent. It’s exactly what you want. Nobody’s settling for a draw. To be fair, neither were Motherwell. They are a team that test your organization.”
In other Premiership action, Stephen Robinson ended his winless streak since joining Aberdeen, guiding his team to a 2-0 victory over Hibernian at Pittodrie with Kevin Nisbet scoring in each half. Dundee United edged Livingston 3-2 in a thriller at Tannadice, with Zac Sapsford netting a late penalty after Will Ferry and Krisztian Keresztes had earlier scored for the hosts, while Lewis Smith bagged a quickfire double for Livingston. Meanwhile, Kilmarnock’s Kelle Roos saved a stoppage-time penalty from Dundee’s Joe Westley after a six-minute VAR check, earning a crucial 2-2 draw in their survival battle at Rugby Park.
