Celtic 1-3 Rangers: Pressure mounts on Wilfried Nancy as Hoops collapse sees Old Firm rivals pull level in Scottish Premiership
Report as Celtic lose 3-1 at home to Rangers; Hyun-Jun Yang fired the Hoops in front during a dominant first half; Youssef Chermiti scored a second-half double to put the visitors ahead; Danny Röhl's side are now level on points with their Old Firm rivals in the Scottish Premiership
Saturday 3 January 2026 20:44, UK
Pressure continues to mount on Wilfried Nancy after Celtic's collapse saw Rangers come from behind to claim an Old Firm win to move level with their rivals in the Scottish Premiership.
The new manager had pleaded for time to make his mark ahead of the contest, after losing five of his first seven games in charge, and an impressive first-half display suggested he may get his wish.
Hyun-Jun Yang's stunning strike saw them take the lead but they could not extend their advantage while Rangers were denied an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Mikey Moore was offside.
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They were left to rue missed chances and poor defending as Youssef Chermiti's quick double saw the visitors take the lead with Moore taking advantage of a mistake from Hoops 'keeper Kasper Schmeichel to extend their lead in the 71st minute.
The result sees Rangers - described as "incredible" in the second half by Danny Röhl - firmly back in the title race as they moved level on points with their rivals on 38 points and six points off leaders Hearts after they beat Livingston.
Many Celtic fans streamed towards the exit well before full-time, but those that remained booed loudly as the team and Nancy headed up the tunnel, with some later gathering outside Celtic Park in protest at the club's board as well the under-fire manager.
Nancy insisted that "things will work out" for him and his side, but former Celtic striker Chris Sutton gave a damning verdict, suggesting the Frenchman would be "fortunate" to survive the latest disappointment.
Incredible game of two halves
The stakes were high for both sides ahead of kick-off.
Celtic had the best of the opening stages. Johnny Kenny fizzed a ball across goal and Luke McCowan fired just wide from the edge of the box.
A brilliant intervention from Nico Raskin then denied Kenny an almost certain opener before Auston Trusty, unchallenged in the box, sent his effort past the post.
Jack Butland then pulled off a brilliant save to stop Kenny but Rangers' relief was short-lived.
The hosts took the lead after 19 minutes when Yang beat the Rangers defence to rifle the ball into the roof of the net from 15-yards and Parkhead erupted.
Kenny and Daizen Maeda then threatened before Schmeichel was called into action for the first time to keep Djeidi Gassama's effort out.
It was then as you were and, after Benjamin Nygren went close, Butland pulled off two quick saves to deny Kenny and Yang.
Rangers did have the ball in the net before half-time but Moore was offside when he tapped in from Chermiti's pass.
Mohamed Diomande replaced Thelo Aasgaard at the break with the Rangers midfielder already on a yellow card.
Callum McGregor saw his shot from outside the box go just wide before Celtic's defensive frailties saw Rangers pull level.
Raskin was left unchallenged to fire the ball into the box for Chermiti to tap home.
Celtic looked for an instant response but Butland stood firm to deny Maeda before showing his class again to push Yang's ball over the bar.
Chermiti, who had failed to live up to the hype of his £8m summer signing, pounced on Trusty's mistake to turn the game on its head as Rangers took the lead.
With the home fans stunned into silence, Moore drilled in a third with Schmeichel slow to react.
Celtic looked shell-shocked, but neither side could add to the scoring in the remaining minutes.
Nancy: 'We are really close to doing good things'
Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy speaking to Sky Sports:
"Nothing changed. My focus is to help my players to be better, help my team, my staff to be better, and to find a way to turn things around. We are really close to doing good things, but in terms of what we consider goals, sometimes it's difficult.
"I want to win games. We all want to win games. But this is the reality for the moment.
"I see many, many good things. That's why the frustration is here because we deserve better and we have to stay together and everything's going to move forward."
When asked for his message to Celtic fans, he added: "Keep working, keep doing what we want to do and the things will work out for us."
Röhl: Boost to pick up statement win
Rangers boss Danny Röhl speaking to Sky Sports:
"The first half I take as my fault. More important was the reaction in the second half.
"In the first half we didn't win enough 50-50 duels. They were stronger, they deserved to be in the lead but the reaction in the second half was outstanding.
"It was exactly what we wanted. We were aggressive, we won the ball, we were more organised. We played forward, which we didn't do in the first half.
"I told you before, these games need stories. Today you have two good stories. The first is that we come back from 1-0 down. The second story of course, is Youssef. He scored and was outstanding.
"It's about the next game because if we don't deliver on Tuesday, it means nothing. It's my job to enjoy today, enjoy the win and then be fully focused on the next one."
