Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic scored two late goals to claim the win over Ross County while James Sands and Malik Tillman started for Rangers in their shutout win over Kilmarnock.
Ross County 1-3 Celtic
Celtic needed two late goals in the second half to take all three points in the end after being held for the majority of the game by Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium.
Cameron Carter-Vickers went the distance for the Hoops, completing 96 percent of his passes and winning five duels.
The champions were as usual on the attack in the first half and had several chances to open the scoring, but they couldn’t find a way past Ross County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw.
Kyogo Furuhashi finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the 48th minute. Some brilliant footwork from Jota saw him dribble the ball into the area before passing on to the Japanese international to guide home.
Celtic’s lead did not last for long as the hosts leveled the score 10 minutes later. Alex Iacovitti would be on the spot to thump a header from an Owura Edwards corner kick past Joe Hart.
Both teams labored through the second half looking for another goal, and it would be the visitors that retook the lead in the 84th minute thanks to Moritz Jenz. Jota’s cross into the area from the left found the German international who headed the ball home.
Celtic put the game out of reach in stoppage time when Liel Abada curled a shot past Laidlaw.
The win keeps Celtic atop the standings with six points.
Rangers 2-0 Kilmarnock
Rangers gave themselves a bit of encouragement ahead of their Champions League second leg game as they blanked Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
Head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst made several changes to his lineup, giving starts to both Malik Tillman and James Sands. Tillman played 75 minutes, completing 81 percent of his passes and winning eight duels. Sands played the entire 90 minutes, completing 91 percent of his passes and winning nine duels.
All the goals would come in the second half, with Antonio Colak breaking the scoreless deadlock in the 51st minute. Some back and forth passing with teammate Thomas Lawrence ended with the Croatian putting his shot past goalkeeper Sam Walker.
Alfredo Morelos doubled the hosts’ lead in the 88th minute when he put away a low ball put across the face of the goal from Rabbi Matondo.
Rangers sit in second place in the standings with six points, just behind their Glasgow rivals Celtic on goal difference.
Notes
Elsewhere in Scotland, Christian Ramierez, who was forced to give up the No.9 shirt to a new signing, came off the bench to assist on a goal while Dante Polvara watched all of the action from the bench as Aberdeen earned their first win of the season with a 4-1 victory over St. Mirren.
Joe Efford played the entire second half as Motherwell conceded a stoppage-time goal to fall to St. Johnstone in a 2-1 defeat.
In the Championship, Brian Schwake recorded a shutout as Greenock Morton secured a 1-0 win over Cove Rangers.
Down in League One, Emmanuel Johnson was only on the field for 38 minutes as FC Edinburgh had a man sent off in the first half to see them go down in a 3-0 defeat to Dunfermline Athletic.
