Football
Wilfried Nancy lost his sixth game in eight when Celtic were on wrong end of an Old Firm comeback against Rangers; Youssef Chermiti scored to cancel out Yang Hyun-jun’s opener before the Rangers striker added a second and Mikey Moore a third; Rangers moved level with Celtic in table
Saturday 3 January 2026 17:30, UK
Chris Sutton says Wilfried Nancy will be lucky to survive as manager after Celtic’s Old Firm derby defeat to Rangers ensured six losses in eight games for the Frenchman.
Nancy got his first taste of Old Firm action after an impassioned pre-match press conference where he called for time and patience after a record breakingly, poor start to life at Parkhead. Despite taking the lead in a dominant first half through a superb Yang Hyun-jun strike, Rangers rallied to win the game.
Yousseff Chermititi scored two with the ease at which the Rangers’ No. 9 drove towards goal uncontested to beat Kasper Schmeichel. Mikey Moore added a third, slotting past the Celtic goalkeeper, who was slow to get down to make the stop.
It’s the first time in 152 consecutive home league games that Celtic have scored first and failed to win the game.
A Celtic home loss also means it’s the first time since 2020 that the Hoops have lost back-to-back games to Rangers at Parkhead. Celtic are now on a run of five Old Firm derbies without victory. There were protests directed at the board following the game, in front of the stadium.
Speaking after the game, Sutton said: “I didn’t think this was a Rangers team at their very best. But for Wilfred Nancy – one way Wilf! It’s not working. I think he’ll be fortunate to survive this.”
Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd, disagrees with Sutton’s sentiment, suggesting that Celtic be patient with Nancy despite an awful spell.
“Nancy pleaded for time,” Boyd told Sky Sports.
“I think it’s right now it does look as if there’s an atmosphere here, but I wouldn’t be making any knee-jerk decision if I were Celtic. Patience is a virtue.”
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A defiant Nancy told Sky Sports that he feels his team deserves better in terms of results:
“For me, 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. Because, like I said, we are really close to doing good things, but in terms of what we concede goals, sometimes it’s difficult.
“I want to win games. We all want to win games. But this is the reality for the moment. But 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.”
Asked about the post-match protests and whether he had a message for the fans, Nancy said: “We keep working. Keep doing what we want to do. And the things will work out for us,
“I saw enough except the fact that we haven’t scored more goals. And again, I know that we lost, but I have also to be objective.
“The level that we had at certain moments was really, really, really high. This is the reality.
“And I would not talk like that if it was not the case. But that’s why, in terms of results again, this is why I said that this is the same story.
“We all know that, and that’s why I said that we are really close to things turning around. But yeah, for the moment: details, details, details.”
For Boyd, Rangers’ performance was far from brilliant but Danny Röhl’s side deserve praise for coming away with a victory as they draw level with Celtic in second place.
“I said at half-time it was a bang average performance from a bang average team. You’ve got to say, they’ve come to Celtic Park and they’ve silenced the lion’s den. In the second half, they were outstanding.
“If there’s ever been a game of two halves, that’s it. Rohl corrected his mistakes at half-time and looks like he’s got that Rangers team playing for him. The other manager looks as though he’ll be on a flight back home tonight.
“With the chances that Celtic had. The game should have been all over at half-time. That will be a concern for Röhl. It should have been dead and buried. But it’s been a theme. I’m sure Danny Röhl would have reiterated that you could still get at Celtic.”
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.”
On what he said to the players at half-time:
“I was not angry. It was about finding solutions. We changed into three midfielders. They couldn’t find the free men that they normally want to.
“We were much more organised and then we played much more straightforward. I think it’s fantastic and what I want to see. It’s a boost to have such a statement today in a big, big game. Outstanding from my team.”
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