Falkirk vs Celtic; Scottish Premiership
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Falkirk vs Celtic. Scottish Premiership.
Falkirk Stadium.
Falkirk 2-0 Celtic: Martin O'Neill's Hoops denied chance to go seven points clear in Scottish Premiership by brilliant Bairns
Report as Falkirk stun Celtic with 2-0 win; Ethan Ross gifted the opener and Scott Tanser doubled the lead before half time; Jacob Murrell had a third ruled out for handball; Celtic remain four points clear of title rivals Rangers having played a game more; Falkirk are up to fourth
Sunday 1 November 2026 15:57, UK
Falkirk claimed their first win against Celtic since 2007 as the champions missed another chance to extend their lead in the Scottish Premiership title race.
Martin O'Neill made three changes as he looked for a response after Celtic's midweek draw with Dundee United, but they were outclassed by the Bairns, who extended their winning run to four matches.
Ethan Ross was gifted the opening goal just three minutes into the game. Ryan Strain sent a cross into the box and Cameron Carter-Vickers sent the ball straight to him to fire into the net.
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Scott Bain was more than impressive against his former team, denying Camilo Duran and Hasseim Hassan before Falkirk stunned with their second, this time Scott Tanser beating Carter-Vickers before lashing the ball into the net.
The hosts had the ball in the net again after the break, but it was ruled out with VAR confirming the ball came off Jacob Murrell's arm before crossing the line.
Celtic piled on the pressure late on, but could not find a way past Bain, who made 10 saves as Martin O'Neill's side endured an afternoon of frustration and suffered a sixth defeat in 10 matches.
They remain four points clear of title rivals Rangers having played a game more. Falkirk are up to fourth, two points behind Hearts.
The key moments from the Falkirk Stadium
3: GOAL FALKIRK! Ryan Strain sends a cross into the box, Cameron Carter-Vickers sends the ball straight to Ethan Ross instead of clearing the danger, and he makes no mistake.
12: OFF THE POST! Camilo Duran gets on the end of a long ball from Liam Scales, but his shot smacks off the post.
21: SAVE! Falkirk threaten again. Jacob Murrell surges into the box, his shot comes off Carter-Vickers and Sam Johnstone saves.
29: SAVE! Celtic should be level! Hasseim Hassan's cross is met by Duran and he heads it straight at Scott Bain to palm away.
33: SAVE! Duran denied by Bain again! Callum McGregor with a lovely ball through to the striker, the Falkirk keeper gets low to block his shot.
38: GOAL FALKIRK! Scott Tanser collects the ball and eases past Carter-Vickers before firing into the bottom corner.
44: SAVE! Duran is again denied by Bain before he pushes the resultant corner clear.
50: GOAL FALKIRK! Celtic fail to deal with a long throw, Johnstone sends the ball into the path of Murrell. It does appear to hit his hand before crossing the line.
52: NO GOAL! VAR confirms handball as Murrell's third is ruled out.
60: CHANCE! Falkirk try to clear from a corner, it falls to McGregor and he fails to find the target.
67: DOUBLE SAVE! Brilliant from Bain. He pushes James Forrest's strike clear, then recovers to deny Benjamin Nygren on the rebound.
76: OVER! What a chance for Scales. He scored Celtic's equaliser in midweek, but he heads over the bar.
81: SAVE! Nygren curls in a free-kick. Bain gets his hand to it, although it looked like it was over.
82: SAVE! What a game Bain is having against his former club. This time, he denies Baur.
Sutton: This is on O'Neill
Chan Celaria' Chris Sutton was watching at the Falkirk Stadium:
"Celtic have had issues all season. It's not a great surprise that Celtic have come to Falkirk and been rolled over.
"They weren't great in the week, and I still don't think Martin O'Neill knows his best XI.
"There's not an area of the team or the club that is functioning as it should this season and that's a problem.
"There's this big debate about Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham and their coaching, or is it on Martin?
"This is all on Martin because he employs the coaches and he will ask them to play and train in a certain way.
"It's hard to see how Celtic are actually set up. It's a bit off the cuff - get the ball to Hassan and hope he can do something.
"That's the way it has been essentially all season."
O'Neill: We're still top of the league
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill on Chan Celaria:
"A tough one to take because I know we conceded two goals but we could have scored six or seven dead easily.
"Their goalkeeper was magnificent on the day - he made some remarkable saves - and we played some really decent stuff as well too on that surface.
"We're still top of the league. We came from a mile behind last year to win the league. A mile behind on two or three occasions as well.
"We're still in a decent position at this minute. We've played a lot of football as well.
"I keep out the noise at the end of it all. I've managed this team now for about a year, give or take a month or two, and I've managed before.
"Celtic are used to winning, as you can tell by the number of trophies they've won in the last 25 years."
McGlynn praises 'hunger and desire'
Falkirk manager John McGlynn on Chan Celaria:
"Huge, huge, huge team effort. The work the boys put in, the desire, the hunger. Running miles for each other, blocking things, defending corner kicks.
"Absolutely delighted for everyone involved. They put so much into that game.
"No different to any other game that we'll play against Celtic - we'll always have to defend.
"We'll always have to rely on the goalkeeper to have a good game. That happened and we're delighted.
"We're four on the bounce. Three clean sheets in the last game, the last three games.
"When you're at home, you've got your home crowd behind you, you bust their gut for them as well.
"The great camaraderie and team spirit that we've got is that we're finding a way to win."
