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It was a relatively low-scoring weekend of football, with twelve goals spread across the six matches. That is not to say that it was without drama though, with late strikes at Tannadice and Tynecastle occurring. Anyhow, with a few weeks to go before the first international break of Sébastien Pocognoli’s Scotland tenure, the games are coming thick and fast, so let’s look at the key takeaways from the weekend action.

Rangers Building Momentum Ahead of Derby Double Header

Much had been made of Rangers’ start to the season. With one point from their first two games and a disastrous European qualifying campaign ending in failure, it had been a tough old start for Derek McIness. However, Saturday’s victory marks their third consecutive of the campaign and means they now sit just two points behind second-placed Hearts.

With Celtic winning match after match, there really is little room for error for the Ibrox side if they want to stay in the title race, even at this early stage of the season. So, after a draw to Dundee United and a loss to Hibernian, with four league ties before the Glasgow Derby, the general feeling was that they would need to win all four and leave Celtic Park with at least a point. Celtic have continued to win, so while they can feel good about themselves for negotiating three tough ties and should feel confident about beating St Mirren on Wednesday, the most difficult bit still comes in two weeks’ time.

Nevertheless, with all games won by one goal, it would be naïve to suggest that all the problems have been solved.

Having said that, on another day the Gers could have easily scored three or four. Kim Minsu fluffed a penalty, while Daisuke Yokota and Kevin Kelsy missed guilt-edged opportunities.

It’s now a massive period for Rangers. They welcome St Mirren to Ibrox on Wednesday before two matches against Celtic, one in the Premier Sports Cup at home and the other away in the league. Despite positive momentum building, anything less than a win against St Mirren and avoiding defeat at Celtic Park will spark another crisis.

A Lack Of Clinical Edge Continues To Hamper Tangerines

It really has been a frustrating start to the season for Dundee United. With six games played, they have managed just one victory, five points and sit in ninth place as a result. And much of that frustration comes from the fact that they should have a lot more to show for their efforts. Their XG differential is the fourth best in the country behind Celtic, Rangers and Hearts, but they just don’t have the points to show for it. Naturally, it would be a lot worse if performances were poor and they were loitering at the foot of the table; the underlying data tells you that they shouldn’t stay there much longer. However, it won’t be much of a consolation for their fans and sometimes a poor start to the season can leave a team in a rut for confidence.

They have undergone an attacking rebuild, with wingers Medhi Merghem, Daniel Bennie and Jesse Randall arriving, as well as strikers Idjessi Metsoko and Lachlan Rose coming through the door. While there is a nice cohesion to attacking movement, they have simply lacked the clinical edge. At the weekend they had an XG of 2.27 to Falkirk’s 0.85, a total of 27 shots to 12 and 4 big chances (according to Sofascore) to 1. Bennie, Randall, Neil Farrugia and Dylan Tait all had chances saved by Scott Bain, who, it must be said, had a great afternoon between the sticks.

Whether a late equaliser can act as some sort of momentum shifter will only become apparent over time. Next up is an away trip to St Mirren, which again will be challenging.

Same Old Story For Dull Aberdeen

Coming into this one, Aberdeen had endured a tough start to the season. In their opening four games, they had faced Hearts and Rangers and a trip to Celtic Park. A home tie against bottom-side Kilmarnock was exactly the type of match Stephen Robinson would have wanted to put the run of three straight losses behind them.

What followed was a lifeless, goalless draw, boos at the end and more questions about how Aberdeen will manage to get back to the upper end of the Scottish football hierarchy.

They played a 4-4-2 at the weekend, with Stuart Armstrong alongside Aremu Afeez in midfield. Outwith that, they had four attacking players on the pitch, with Lewis Smith and Tony Yogane out wide and Kevin Nesbit pairing Mitchy Ntelo up front. Despite that, attacking creativity was at a premium and goalkeeper Max Stryjek was arguably the best player in Red.

Stephen Robinson had, to all intents and purposes, inherited a dysfunctional squad. Joining in March, he guided the Dons to an eighth-place finish. A story that has become all too familiar in recent seasons. One Scottish Cup triumph doesn’t mask what has been years of mediocrity. Between 2013/14 and 2020/21, they finished second three times, third place twice and fourth place on four occasions. Since then, it’s been ninth, third, ninth, fifth and eighth.

So, it might still be early days, but Robinson has to find a way to start winning, otherwise it could turn into another disappointing campaign in the North-East of Scotland.

Haissem Hassan Shines On Right Hand Side For Celtic

He may not have got a goal, or an assist for that matter, but Haissem Hassan enjoyed a really positive performance on Saturday night. Signing from Real Oviedo after a terrific World Cup, the Egyptian has taken some time to get up to speed from a fitness point of view. Although against Aberdeen midweek and increasingly so in the Paisley victory, he has looked sharp and causing a lot of problems on the right wing.

If there was one criticism of his early performances, it was a lack of incision. At times he would dilly-dally when squaring up his man, often taking the sting out of quickly worked attacks. On Saturday evening though, he was much more direct, going inside and outside with success and proving a real thorn in the side of Declan John.

His back post crossing was reminiscent of Nicolas Kuhn and would have benefited from a physical presence like Kasper Høgh in the mixer.

Now, with Yang heading to the Asian Games to represent South Korea, it’ll be interesting to see how Martin O’Neill shapes his Celtic attack, with Høgh expected to return in the next week. Will Duran simply move to the left, with Hassan and Høgh remaining in natural positions, or could the likes of Sebastien Tounetki or James Forrest be called upon?

Hearts Positive Start Continues

Since an opening-day loss, Hearts have reeled off four straight league victories as well as a 6-2 victory over Inverness in the Premier Sports Cup. There has been the perfect blend of victory styles: a 4-0 hammering against Dundee United, a derby day away win, a narrow victory against St Johnstone and a late show turnaround against Dundee yesterday.

For large periods of the game, they were uninspiring. Come the 84th minute, it seemed like it would be just one of those days.

It’s frequently said that winning ugly and in different ways is what champions do. I wouldn’t personally go that far. Based on quality alone, I expect Celtic to make it six in a row come May.

However, questions about whether they will be in that top two, once again splitting Glasgow’s big two, were asked after Derek McIness, Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin moved to Ibrox.

Truthfully, the early signs are that they haven’t missed them and with the next three ties coming against Falkirk, Kilmarnock and St Mirren, the Jambos have an excellent chance to make a statement.

David Gray Will Be Feeling The Pressure After A Dismal Week

It’s season three of the David Gray Hibernian project. There have been ups and downs along the way but until recently he felt relatively secure. Now, it seems more ropey.

His tenure did, of course, begin with a really poor start to the 2024/25 season. That would soon be rectified, though, with a run of 17 games unbeaten helping the Hibees on their way to a third-place finish. The following campaign, they would fail to reach those heights, placing fifth behind Motherwell.

There have been bright moments this season, with great performances in Europe plus a late winner against Rangers, but apart from that they have lost three of the opening five league games and are much to easy to play through.

The question becomes about the sense of direction. Are they truly improving under Gray’s guidance? It seems that they are going backwards, which is never good for a manager’s job security.