“Are they your favorite now? For me, they’re my favorite.”
Neil Lennon believes Celtic will retain the Scottish Premiership title after their win over Rangers moved them within one point of leaders Hearts with two games remaining.
After the Jambos drew at Motherwell on Saturday, the Hoops came from behind to win the final Old Firm game of the season, creating a title race like no other.
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Highlights of the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers.
Rangers’ hopes of winning a trophy have disappeared after losing their first three games since the split, and there is a possibility that Celtic and Hearts will set course for the final showdown at Parkhead on May 16th.
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Daenen Maeda pounced on a cross and finished perfectly with a scissor kick to score Celtic’s fantastic third goal.
Celtic travel to Motherwell on Wednesday before that, while Hearts host Falkirk, but former player and manager Lennon believes his old side have the momentum for the final two games of the season.
He said after Celtic’s win over Rangers: “At their current form, I would put Celtic as favorites to win the title.” “Obviously they have a difficult game on Wednesday and then they play Hearts at home. If you’re going to say, ‘We’ve got to win a game for the title on the last day of the season, but home or away,’ you’d want to play it here at Celtic Park.”
“They needed to win three games and they won the three toughest games. They negotiated one win and now it’s a two-horse race.”
Lennon also praised his old manager Martin O’Neill, who will face Dunfermline’s team in the Scottish Cup final later this month.
Martin O’Neill won three league titles in his first spell as Celtic manager
“He seems really cool and calm,” Lennon said. “I think he’s responded brilliantly to the media and the game. Even if this is a last hurray, he’s going to want to win the title and his team is responding at the level we know they can right now.”
“They were great in the second half, dominated the game and deserved the win and that was a big thing for them psychologically because they haven’t shown that much this year and all of a sudden they had momentum.
“They’re going to take a big boost from today’s win, and it’s all going to carry over into Wednesday. Are they the favorites now? To me, they are.”
Celtic beat Rangers with Daizen Maeda’s double
Boyd: “Rangers lose in tough situation”
However, in the case of Rangers, Danny Rolle’s side are guaranteed to finish third and will not be able to lift the trophy again.
Former striker Kris Boyd insisted further rebuilding would be needed over the summer and once again questioned the mentality of Rangers’ team, which suffered three consecutive defeats for the first time since 2000.
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Kris Boyd calls for better leadership at Rangers after 3-1 defeat to Celtic
“The worry is that he will continue to leave this Rangers team,” he said. “Rangers play in the situations they have been in and they look like a good team and then suddenly at the moment when they have to suffer they go down, Rangers go down.
“It’s time for a leader because they act as individuals. You have to bring them in and make them difficult to play against. They are very easy to play.
“The slump from one half to the other that the Rangers are currently showing is concerning. They had lost two games all season in the league leading up to the split. They have now lost three games in the split.”
Goalkeeper Jack Butland sent off after Rangers defeat to Celtic
“Danny Rohr is going to be in serious doubt. He’s already fought off mental issues, but there are mental issues within that group, there’s no doubt about that.
“Rangers look like a good team when everything is going well, but when they have to struggle they fall apart.” Rohr talks about next season. “It’s a big, big summer for Rangers. They obviously miss out on second place as well, but that’s a lot of money.”
“Rebuild again, I’m tired of saying it.”
