Credit: Imago

Jack Dawson

Tue 3 March 2026 7:00, UK

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Celtic produced a second-half comeback against Rangers on Sunday to keep their Scottish Premiership title hopes alive as they drew 2-2 at Ibrox.

VAR was once again at the centre of the action as it advised John Beaton to award a late penalty to the Hoops.

While Reo Hatate saw the spot kick and the rebound saved, he eventually bundled in the equaliser to ensure the scoreline ended level.

However, Celtic could have easily had a penalty kick earlier in the game when Sebastian Tounekti was bundled over inside the box, with Keith Hackett insisting that a spot-kick should have been awarded.

• Read more: Sources: Celtic work on defender signing as plans emerge for next season

Keith Hackett: Celtic should have been awarded a second penalty vs Rangers

In the 82^nd minute at Ibrox, Tounekti was dribbling inside Rangers’ box with the ball.

However, justling for control of the ball was also Dujon Sterling, with the Gers star having hold of Tounekti’s shirt.

As a result, the Celtic star was brought down and lost possession as a result.

Watching the footage back, Hackett exclusively told Football Insider that he was stunned a penalty kick was not given.

⚽️😄#RANCEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/IXKkCTdXLe

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) March 1, 2026

He said: “Well, I do hope that Willie Collum, the Head of Referees, will look at this and enquire of the referee and VAR how they failed to award what is clearly a penalty kick.

“The defender holding and impeding his opponent with contact.

“That is a foul and should have resulted in a penalty kick.”

• Read more: ‘Absolute clown’ – Rangers fans want Danny Rohl sacked ‘immediately’ after scenes vs Celtic

What did Martin O’Neill say after the Rangers draw?

For Martin O’Neill, the Old Firm derby result was a failure.

While the manager did well to oversee the second-half comeback that resulted in the draw, it was another two points lost.

Now, there is further emphasis on their clash against Aberdeen on Wednesday, and if they fail to pick up a victory, they could be all but out of the title race.

As a result, it was clear that the only winner for the tie was Hearts, and this was reflected in O’Neill’s post-match press conference, with the club now six points clear at the summit.

💬 “We got forward, we showed commitment, drive, determination and the ability to pass the ball – and we could have won.”

🗞️ Martin O’Neill praises second-half Celts 👇#RANCEL | #CelticFC🍀

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) March 2, 2026

The manager told Sky Sports on 1 March: “If you’re looking at it from a distance, I think that the result is a really good result for Hearts as much as anything else. That’s the way, if you were involved with Hearts, you’d have been thinking a point each here would be good. As I said earlier, we’ve been fighting the whole way through.

“It seems as if it’s like the proverbial mountain to climb every single week and games are getting fewer and fewer now. Even so, we’re still well in it. We’re still well in this here. We need to try and win on Wednesday (vs Aberdeen), and if we could do that, it’d be great. That will not be easy for us.”

Next up, Celtic will travel to Aberdeen on Wednesday to play their game in hand as they look to reduce the gap to Hearts to five points.