Fair’s fair as Dundee hold Kilmarnock in even contest

Kilmarnock 1 – 1 Dundee Dundee remain in hot pursuit of a top six finish after holding an out of sorts Kilmarnock to a draw in an even contest. Lyall Cameron put the visitors in front after blasting home a clearance that had a landed at his feet. Tony Docherty will be disappointed his side could only hold onto the lead for three minutes when teenager Wales finished a clever lay off from Kyle Vassell. In truth the scoreline reflected the split in dominance with Dundee very much the stronger of the two in the first half. Robby McCrorie was tested early on at Rugby Park but Dundee struggled to break the deadlock despite their dominance. Simon Murray had an opportunity to put his side ahead with an open goal in front of him but missed the ball completely. Derek McInnes’ men grew into the second half, Gary Mackay-Steven kept out by a strong Jon McCracken save and was guilty of skying a golden opportunity not long after. There will not be any panic just yet for McInnes but his side, currently sat tenth, have now won just one of their last six games. Attendance: 5, 454 Line-ups: Kilmarnock: R. McCrorie, R. Deas, L. Mayo, J. Wright, F. Murray (B. Wales, 78), C. Ndaba, B. Lyons, G. Mackay-Stevens (D. Armstrong 75′), B. Anderson (L. Polworth 78′), K. Vassell (I. Cameron 87′), M. Watkins Substitutes: D. Armstrong, O. Bainbridge, J. Burroughs, I. Cameron, R. McKenzie, K. O’Hara, L. Polworth, D. Watson, B. Wales Dundee: J. McCracken, B. Koumetio, A. Portales, R. Astley, F. Roberston, L. Cameron, M. Sylla (E. Ingram 46′), J. McGhee, J. Mulligan (O. Adewumi 66′), S. Murray, S. Palrmer-Houlden Substitutes: O’Adewumi, S. Braybrooke, E. Ingram, S. Kelly, H. Sharp, S. Tiffoney, J. Vetro Referee: Ross Hardie  

Rangers pick up a much needed 3 points in McDiarmid Park victory

Philippe Clement’s side came out on top in a narrow victory over St Johnstone Rangers headed into the game looking to build on their resounding win in the South of France on Thursday, with St Johnstone hoping to record back-to-back league victories at McDiarmid Park. Two changes for Rangers today following their 4-1 victory over Nice, with skipper James Tavernier replacing the injured Dujon Sterling and Ianis Hagi coming in for his first start for the club since May 2023, in place of Mohamed Diomande. Simo Valakari named the same XI that defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 last weekend. It was St Johnstone who started the brighter of the 2 sides in the opening exchanges. A great run by Sanders down the right-hand side nearly led to a chance for St Johnstone but the ball was cleared away from danger by Rangers. Rangers then began to get a foothold of possession and looked threatening whenever they got the ball forward. Cerny came close with an attempt from the edge of the box but the ball fizzed past the side netting. Rangers continued to probe and Bajrami had the best chance of the half, as the ball fell to him inside the 6 yard box but couldn’t sort his feet out quick enough. St Johnstone struggled to get any sort of possession in the first half but looked dangerous whenever they were able to get at Clements side. A failed offside trap by the Rangers defence allowed Kirk to race through on goal but Butland was able to save his attempt with relative ease. Half Time – St Johnstone 0-0 Rangers Philippe Clements half time team talk looked to have taken an effect on his men as Rangers started the second half promisingly. A couple of early efforts on goal were thwarted by the Saints keeper, including a good save to deny Tavernier from a free kick. Rangers finally found the breakthrough in the 63rd minute. A looping cross inside the box by Yilmaz was bundled home by Jason Holt just a few yards from his own goal, with Tavernier applying the pressure just behind him. Rangers continued to dominate and almost added a second through Danilo but Josh Rae was there again to keep the score at 0-1. There was only one team who looked like scoring the second, with St Johnstone unable to get out of their own half. Danilo missed a golden opportunity to wrap the game up late in the tie but fired the ball straight at the Saints keeper. Rangers stifled any potential St Johnstone threat in the dying embers of the game and held on for a comfortable victory. It was a much-needed win domestically for Phillipe Clement in a pressure easing week for the Rangers boss. It was only their second away win in the league this season. For St Johnstone, it wasn’t the result they were hoping for but there were some positives to take from the game for Valakari and he will be hoping his side can build on this performance against Aberdeen next weekend.   St Johnstone – Rae (GK), Wright, Sanders, Mikulic, Raymond, Carey (Essel 46’), Sprangler (Sidibeh 66’ Mcpake 81’), Holt (Kucheriavyi 81’), Clark (C) (Neilson 58), Kirk, Kimpioka Rangers – Butland (GK), Tavernier (C), Souttar, Propper (Balogun 46’), Jefte (Danilo 58’), Barron, Raskin, Cerny (Dowell 86’), Bajrami (Yilmaz 46’), Hagi, Igamane (Diomande 76’) Attendance 7,446

First half onslaught sees Celtic cruise to victory against Ross County

Celtic 5 – 0 Ross County Bredan Rodgers’ men continued their unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership, a 5-0 victory over Ross County extending their lead at the top to five points. County faced an uphill battle from start but it was made all the more difficult when a Liam Scales header put the home side ahead after only ten minutes. Don Cowie looked on as Ross Laidlaw could little to prevent the first half flood of goals. Charlie Telfer blasted over the visitors’ best opportunity, a fortunate Callum McGregor guilty of letting possession slip near his own box. Luke McGowan was on hand to double Celtic’s lead before Paulo Bernardo’s goal but the game to bed before forty-five minutes had elapsed. It was again all too easy for the hosts as McGregor, with far too much space, blasted a fantastic shot from outside the box. Adam Idah dealt the final blow, some tricky footwork giving the striker space to send a rocket past a miserable Laidlaw who saw himself substituted after the break. Despite the humbling defeat, Ross County sit in eighth, just three points outside of the top six. Attendance: 58, 436 Line-ups: Celtic: K. Schmeichel, A. Valle (G. Taylor 80′), L. Scales, C. Carter-Vickers, A. Johnston (A. Ralston 61′), P. Bernardo, C. McGregor (A. Engels 61′), L. McCowan (R. Hatate 70′), D. Maeda (Yang Hyun-Jun 46′), A. Idah, J. Forrest Ross County: R. Laidlaw (J. Hamilton 48′), E. Campbell, R. Leak, A. Wright, G. Harmon, J. Nisbet, C. Telfer, J. Brown (M. Efete 46′), J. White (S. Allardice 46′), N. Chilvers (V. Loturi 61′), R. Hale (A. Samuel 73′) Referee: Gordon Crawford  

Resurgent Hibs secure three points in Motherwell

Motherwell 0 – 3 Hibernian Hibernian earned a vital win away to Motherwell, leapfrogging Hearts and easing, albeit temporarily, pressure on manager David Gray. The visitors took advantage of some slackness saw a launched ball from Nicky Cadden float over Aston Oxborough who misread the its trajectory, as the ball was laid the ball into the path of Junior Hoilett who duly converted. Looking to avoid history repeating itself, Hibs sought a second to create a much needed buffer and they duly delivered when Motherwell’s defenders failed to clear the danger from a corner. Mykola Kuharevich took full advantage and doubled their lead. Motherwell had their best chance of the game but Jordan Smith tipped a shot over the crossbar. Not looking to sit back, Gray’s men continued to push on and Smith continued to look a changed man from the error strewn display against Aberdeen. His long ball again poorly dealt with by the home side allowed Josh Campbell to put the game out of reach for Stuart Kettlewell’s side. Despite coming away with nothing, Motherwell remain fifth.   Attendance: 5,212 Line-Ups: Motherwell: A. Oxborough, K. Balmer (M. Ebiya 71′), L. Gordon, D. Casey, E.Wilson (S. Seddon 82′), A. Halliday (Z. Robinson 46′), D. Zdravkovski (H. Paton, 72′), M. Kaleta, L. Miller, T. Maswanhise, A. Stamatelopoulos (T. Watt 46′) Hibernian: J. Smith, J. Iredale, R. Bushiri, W. O’Hora, N. Cadden, J. Newell (Kwon Hyeok-Kyu 82′), N. Triantis, C. Cadden (L. Miller 89′), J. Hoilett (J. Campbell 69′), E. Youan (M. Boyle 82′), M. Kuharevich (D. Gayle 69′) Referee: Grant Irvine