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Celtic, Rangers earn league wins
Written by Sports Desk. Posted in SPL. | 29 March 2025 | 113 Views
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Daizen Maeda marked his 150th Celtic appearance with two goals against Hearts, while Rangers edged a seven-goal thriller against Dundee FC.

Daizen Maeda's sensational season for Celtic continued as his two goals helped the Scottish Premiership leaders ease to a 3-0 victory over Hearts on Saturday.

Maeda has now scored 30 goals across all competitions for Brendan Rodgers' side, with his strikes coming either side of Jota's fourth goal since returning to the Hoops in January.

Celtic remain 13 points clear at the summit of the standings, and face St. Johnstone next in what will be an audition for their Scottish Cup semi-final clash next month.

Maeda opened the scoring at Celtic Park in the 17th minute, racing onto Callum McGregor's pass in behind the Hearts defence, before placing the ball beyond Craig Gordon.

The hosts doubled their advantage seven minutes later with Maeda involved again. He saw his header hit the post, but the rebound fell kindly for Jota to finish from close range.

And the result was put beyond doubt four minutes before the break, with Maeda notching his brace from inside the six-yard box following Nicolas Kuhn's teasing delivery.

"The way we played through their press for all three goals was really impressive," Rodgers said after the full-time whistle.

"For the players to come back from the international break and to play with that connection and authority, I was really pleased.

"You see what Daizen [Maeda] gives the team with that relentless appetite to press. When he's in, you fancy him to score."

 

Rangers, meanwhile, needed a dramatic 93rd-minute winner from Cyriel Dessers to seal a sensational comeback win over Dundee FC, emerging 4-3 victors at Dens Park.

Barry Ferguson's side found themselves two goals down twice during the contest, but roared back in the closing stages to ensure rivals Celtic could not edge closer to the title.

Dundee hit the front with just two minutes on the clock when Simon Murray brilliantly turned Finlay Robertson's corner home with a fine volley.

The hosts doubled their lead soon after when Joe Shaughnessy saw his tame header spilled by Jack Butland, with the Dundee defender on hand to steer home the rebound.

But Shaughnessy was involved at the other end just before the break, sliding in to clear James Tavernier's cross into the box, but inadvertently looping the ball into his own net.

Scott Tiffoney restored Dundee's two-goal cushion just after the hour with a fierce strike beyond Butland, atoning for his glaring miss just four minutes into the second half.

Rangers, however, hauled themselves back into the match with a moment of real quality, with Tavernier taking aim from distance and firing the ball beyond Trevor Carson.

The visitors levelled the contest with nine minutes left with another effort from range; this time, substitute Tom Lawrence found the back of the net from just outside the area.

And, in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, Dessers capitalised on Aaron Donnelly's poor backwards header to prod the ball home to end a remarkable encounter.

Data Debrief: Maeda and Dessers star on landmark outings

Much of the talk surrounding Celtic's game was about the future of Maeda, with the Bhoys keen to extend their top scorer's stay at the club, and the Japan international proved why his team should break the bank to keep him in Glasgow.

Maeda marked his 150th appearance for Celtic in all competitions with his 59th goal, ending the contest with a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.46 to Rodgers' side's 2.55 total in the contest.

But Rangers' turnaround in their clash with Dundee was just as impressive, with Dessers also marking a landmark appearance with a goal, but he was made to wait for his moment late on after being frustrated in the match.

It was almost a 100th outing with Rangers for Dessers to forget, with the Nigerian registering a whopping 12 shots, nine of which were on target, before sealing the victory with, arguably, one of his more difficult chances late on.

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