What thrilling week tells us about Premiership title raceImage caption, Rangers’ 4-2 win over Hearts has narrowed the gap at the top to two points.ByAndy CoyleBBC Sport ScotlandPublished37 minutes agoThe Scottish Premiership title race is even tighter following a blockbuster Sunday as last-gasp strikes and goal-laden games heaped on more drama in a thrilling tussle at the top.Celtic’s fightback from two goals down at Rugby Park was capped by a winner from Julian Araujo, the third time in a week the defending champions have snatched a vital strike right at the end.Rangers twice found themselves trailing to league leaders Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox but Youssef Chermiti’s hat-trick helped Danny Rohl’s side to a thumping 4-2 victory.And Motherwell stretched their unbeaten run to eight games with a 2-0 win over Aberdeen that keeps them in contention.How does it leave the table looking?Hearts remain out in front on 57 points but their lead has been cut again and they sit just two ahead of Rangers, who are now on 55. Celtic’s recent late show lifted Martin O’Neill’s side up to 54 points, while the defending champions have a game in hand, away to Aberdeen, over the sides above them.Motherwell are a bit further back, 10 points behind the leaders, but also have a game in hand on the top two.Image source, SNSNew arrivals make their markOne quirk of Sunday’s action was that none of the goalscorers from the top four were at their clubs last season, when Celtic were already cruising towards the title.Sebastian Tounekti netted for the third time at Rugby Park this season, Benjamin Nygren scored his 16th goal for Celtic since moving in the summer and it was January arrival Araujo who clinched three points.At Ibrox, the scoring was opened by Marc Leonard, who only joined Hearts four weeks ago, then Claudio Braga continued his incredible season with another goal. January signing Ryan Naderi helped force the first Rangers goal, while Youssef Chermiti grabbed the headlines as he continued to answer critics of his big-money move to Ibrox. The striker arrived from Everton for an initial £8m but was derided for his early performances. A double in the derby at Celtic Park helped win over some doubters and he has delivered again in a high stakes game. Jackie McNamara sees plenty to like about the Portuguese forward but says he will need to contribute more regularly in the title run-in.”The biggest thing is consistency,” the former Celtic defender told the Scottish Football Podcast. “Has he got attributes? Yeah, he can move, he’s physical, he’s good in the air. “Technically, he’s not brilliant, but he scores a hat-trick, he looked world-class against Celtic in the second half. That was more down to Celtic’s defending and in Wilfried Nancy’s time. “I think if you’re going to lead the line for Rangers, you’ve got to have that every game. You’ve got have that consistency. “You’ve got to be on the end of everything. He’s away with the match ball. So what’s his reaction to that now? Strikers are all about confidence, but for him there has to be some kind of consistency there.”Sportscene: Scottish Premiership highlights15/02/2026Watch on iPlayer
