Hearts saw their Scottish Premiership advantage reduced to three points as rivals Hibernian won 3-2, while Celtic and Rangers both claimed victories that tightened the title race and increased pressure at the top of the table.
The 150th Scottish Premiership Edinburgh derby at Easter Road proved decisive in that shift, with Hibs racing into a three-goal lead before surviving a late Hearts surge that featured two goals in the final 15 minutes and several close chances.
Jamie McGrath gave Hibernian the ideal platform after just three minutes, guiding in the opener to ignite the home crowd, then substitute Josh Campbell struck on the stroke of half-time to double the advantage and send Hearts into the break facing a serious setback.
Hibs then punished
a defensive mistake soon after the restart, as Kieron Bowie drove in their third goal in the 48th minute following a poor clearance from Stuart Findlay, leaving Hearts apparently beaten before the visitors mounted a late response.
Lawrence Shankland pulled one back on 75 minutes and Cameron Devlin added another in the 89th minute, yet Hearts could not complete the comeback because Raphael Sallinger produced two important late saves to deny Shankland and Beni Baningime and secure all three points for Hibernian.
A huge three points in Leith! pic.twitter.com/gOJJU07NoXHibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC) December 27, 2025
Celtic capitalised on Hearts’ defeat by beating Livingston 4-2 away, coming from behind twice in a frantic contest that featured four goals within the first 10 minutes and then two further strikes before half-time that turned the match in favour of Wilfried Nancy’s side.
Cristian Montano scored twice early for Livingston, yet Celtic responded quickly through Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-Jun, before Nygren put the visitors ahead in the 31st minute and Arne Engel converted a penalty eight minutes later to complete a turnaround that tightened the Scottish Premiership title race.
Rangers also made ground in the Scottish Premiership standings, moving up to third place by overtaking Motherwell after a 1-0 win, with Thelo Aasgaard finishing from close range to decide a tight match and keep Rangers within reach of the teams above.
Hearts left Easter Road frustrated because they controlled much of the Scottish Premiership derby, enjoying more possession and creating more shooting opportunities than Hibernian but failing to match that superiority on the scoreboard despite a strong late revival.
Hearts generated 1.51 expected goals compared with Hibs’ 1.43, had four more attempts overall with 16 shots to 12, and produced seven efforts on target, but converted only two of those, while Hibs took their chances and secured a second straight home Edinburgh derby win in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since March 2018.
The weekend’s Scottish Premiership results therefore left Hearts with a slimmer lead, strengthened Celtic’s position after a high-scoring away victory, and lifted Rangers into third, while Hibernian’s home success in the landmark Edinburgh derby added fresh intrigue to the evolving championship picture.
