Rangers and Ryan Naderi finish off Celtic’s horror week with Old Firm victory

If ever a stadium can be rocked by silence, this was the moment. With no visiting fans allowed at any of this season’s Glasgow derbies, Ryan Naderi’s winning goal was met with nothing but the banging of fists of the clear plastic of the Rangers bench and the shouting of the broadcast commentators. A screaming void of apathy and atrophy, the sound of a beckoning abyss, of three straight Celtic defeats and a title race blowing open.

In the coming three weeks, as club football dissolves for the international break, noises and voices will pour into the void: some helpful and some not. This, of course, is a familiar feeling for any club of Celtic’s size, and naturally the temptation will be to block out the noise, stay the course. This would be a grave mistake. If last season’s double illustrated the way this club can still rise above adversity, there can no longer be any hiding place, no equivocation with the alarming drop in standards that was evident here.

Related: Celtic 0-1 Rangers: Scottish Premiership – as it happened

Naderi's goal came from close range after Kim Min-su hit a long-range shot. Viljami Sinisalo could only push the ball into Naderi's path, and Naderi finished it. This goal was the clearest sign of Rangers' dominance. Derek McInnes kept the same team as before. His players showed clear patterns of play. Their midfield worked hard and had a clear plan. They brought order where Celtic showed only confusion. Celtic have not shown this kind of order for some time.

Even as they desperately chased the game in the final minutes, they could barely fashion a chance, barely get hold of the ball. Martin O’Neill sprang a surprise with Luke McCowan in midfield, discarded his back five at half-time and rolled through his substitutions, but no plan ever really emerged from the fog. Celtic are basically like the tangled ball of printer cables and headphone wires in the bottom drawer: try as you might to unpick them, you’re never quite sure whether you’re untangling the threads or simply making them tighter.

And so, time to face some awkward questions. Is Callum McGregor, club legend, still fit for purpose? McGregor is 33 and the captain, but has looked desperately off the pace for some time now. Does Liam Scales need replacing? Does Kieran Tierney still have the legs? Are either of their goalkeepers actually any good? Does O’Neill have the expertise to steer them out of trouble? And would you trust this board, still essentially hollow of footballing expertise, to oversee the required changes?

The chaotic end to the transfer window and the calamitous European exit to Lask offer an illusion of urgency, but really this is a squad that has needed refreshment for years. Yet few of the big summer signings looked equipped for a game of this magnitude. Kasper Høgh was only introduced at half-time and offered little. Camilo Durán gave Emmanuel Fernandez a rough ride early on before disappearing from view. Mika Baur looked overawed, overrun by a Rangers midfield superior not just in numbers but in purpose.

Wouter Vrancken was confused by a "strange" video assistant referee decision. The decision cancelled an early Hearts goal in their 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock, who are bottom of the table. Hearts thought they had taken the lead in the 11th minute. Laurent Mendy's shot looked like it was going wide, but it was deflected into the net by Kilmarnock defender Cathal McCarthy. However, the VAR, Matthew MacDermid, told referee Duncan Nicolson to disallow the goal. This was because the ball had accidentally hit Mendy's hand. Kilmarnock then took the lead a few minutes later through an own goal by Jamie McCart. Stephen Kingsley then scored an equalizer for Hearts in the 86th minute (pictured).

But Vrancken cited similarities with the recent incident involving Manchester United’s Harry Maguire against Ipswich and felt Mendy’s inadvertent handball should have been rendered irrelevant by McCarthy heading the ball into the net. “For me, when it’s such a clear situation, it’s strange that the VAR comes in between and rules wrong,” said the Belgian. “We had a meeting last week about the laws of the game and the refs did their explanation but when you don’t see them applied in the game, then I’m thinking this is strange."

Martin Boyle ended Hibernian’s losing streak at home after they fought back to claim a point in a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen. The Dons went ahead in the 17th minute with a composed finish from former Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet. Managerless Hibs – with John Potter in interim charge after David Gray’s midweek sacking – looked bereft of confidence for long spells. However, the Leith side – who had lost six successive games at Easter Road – earned a share of the spoils when Boyle levelled from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute after Jack Milne dragged Jason Kerr to the ground.

Steven Pressley praised Joe Westley for the bravery he showed by playing in Dundee's 2-1 home win over Motherwell. The former Burnley striker fractured his cheekbone against Hearts a fortnight ago but declared himself available after deciding against having surgery. Instead, he played wearing a protective mask and nett Dundee’s opening goal from the penalty spot before Bradley Fink doubled their advantage. Alex Lowry pulled one back for the visitors just before the break but the home side held on.

Pressley said: “Joe showed great courage. But he gave a wonderful performance, without any trepidation. Joe was fearless in everything he did and to score a goal is really important for him because he lives off them."

Jim Goodwin hailed his side’s performance as the perfect tonic as Dundee United defeated St Mirren 3-0 in a one-sided contest in Paisley, with first-half goals from Jesse Randall, Lyall Cameron and Kevin Ciubotaru. It was Goodwin’s first appearance in the dugout since a recent health scare and the United manager said: “On a personal note, it was great to be back. Certainly the best medicine that I could have hoped for was that type of result and performance."

A stunning set-piece strike from Enes Alic in the sixth minute of stoppage time secured a dramatic 1-1 draw for 10-man St Johnstone against Falkirk. Falkirk took advantage of Cheick Diabaté’s 54th-minute red card to seize the lead through Ethan Ross on the hour. But Alic found the top corner from 25 yards to move Simo Valakari’s side up to sixth place. Press Association

James Penrice has played only nine games, but he is already becoming a club legend. He was again the key player in this derby, and his performance was hard to predict. The left-back ran forward through the middle, moved into the penalty box, and headed the ball just wide of the goal. Next to him, Dan Neill and Nicolas Raskin are already building a strong partnership in central midfield. Naderi and Kim caused problems for the defense in the attacking areas. McInnes's team is not yet a finished side, but in their toughest match of the season, they showed unity and spirit. They proved they can keep performing well even under great pressure.

That they were unable to celebrate this triumph with fans in the stadium was a source of lament, and a measure of just how ugly this fixture has become. And of course this is a failure not just of the two fanbases but the authorities who have allowed the ugliness to fester, who have talked a tough game on sectarianism but done little in practice to combat it at source. Over the years Celtic v Rangers has become the sort of fixture that is no longer relished but dreaded. But it is of course Celtic who will wake with the heavier heads on Monday morning.