A look back on an action packed weekend of Scottish Premiership action.
Aberdeen 3-1 St Mirren.
Aberdeen returned to winning ways to move ahead of St Mirren.
The Dons started on the front foot and took an early lead courtesy of a wonder goal from Brad Lyons. The rest of the half was dominated by St Mirren, who got their just reward when Phillips cut the ball back to Sule, who made no mistake with the finish. Aberdeen improved in the second period and took the lead just before the hour mark. The referee initially gave a free kick for a foul on Yogane, but after review, awarded the penalty as the foul occurred inside the box. Captain Kevin Nisbet stepped up and saw his penalty well saved by Chapman, but the striker followed it up and converted the rebound. Two became three on seventy-two minutes. The substitute Mouloua, just moments after being introduced, received a pass from Aremu from a quickly taken free kick, which caught St Mirren off guard. The striker cut onto his right foot and slotted the ball into the bottom corner to seal the points.
A much-needed win for Aberdeen after a disappointing result and performance against St Johnstone last weekend. However, for St Mirren, that’s now five consecutive defeats. In those games, they’ve shipped fourteen goals and only netted twice.
Hibernian 1-2 Falkirk.
Hibs move bottom following defeat in Marink Reedijk’s first home game as Hibernian boss.
Jacob Murrell opened the scoring for Falkirk just before the fifteen-minute mark. Hibs gave the ball away cheaply in the middle of the park and were caught out by a simple through ball, which Murrell got on the end of and smashed the ball past Sallinger at his near post. The USA striker made it two on thirty-seven minutes. Klidje opted for a back heel in a tight situation, which resulted in Falkirk winning the ball high up the pitch. Murrell took a touch in front of him and found the roof of the net at Sallinger’s near post to pile the misery onto Hibernian. However, less than five minutes later, Hibs pulled one back through Elding, and despite those from a Falkirk persuasion believing that the forward used his arm to put the ball into the net, the goal was awarded. Hibs dominated the ball in the second period (75%) and created several opportunities, but Falkirk held onto a massive three points.
Another dismal afternoon for the Edinburgh side, who now sit bottom, with a home fixture against Celtic on the horizon. However, a huge victory for Falkirk, who move into ninth. In continuation, after conceding three stoppage time goals in their previous four games going into Saturday, it was important that they held on, and that’s exactly what they done.
Kilmarnock 3-2 Motherwell.
Killie move off the bottom of the table with win over Motherwell.
Killie got off to the perfect start through Kiltie, pouncing on slack play from the visitors. Motherwell levelled on seventeen minutes. One simple ball over the top found Longelo, who played a ball across goal into Palmer-Houlden, who saw his shot saved from close range, but Lowry was there to follow up to level things up. The visitors took the lead on fifty-six minutes through Palmer-Houlden. Said played a teasing ball into the area, which found the striker, who bundled the ball home. Moments later, the sides were level once again. Brandon’s defensive header went over the heads of the Motherwell central defenders, who were both caught underneath the ball and into the path of John-Jules, whose low effort found the bottom corner. The hosts restored their lead with just over twenty minutes of action left. Brandon’s ball over the top found Kiltie, who once more made no mistake with the finish. Another piece of poor defending from the steel men.
A vital victory for Kilmarnock, who, as a result, move off the foot of the table. On the other hand, Motherwell move down to tenth following a run of five consecutive defeats. The Motherwell boss will be livid with the manor in which his side conceded the three goals on Saturday, one from playing the ball out from the back and two from amateur-level defending, failing to deal with simple balls over the top.
St Johnstone 1-1 Dundee United.
Dundee United fight back to pick up a point in Perth.
The Saints found the opener just after twenty minutes through Josh Fowler, who remains the Premiership’s top scorer, now on six goals, joint with Nygren. Alic picked out the inform striker, who was in the right place at the right time to put St Johnstone ahead. United dominated the ball in the second period and found the equaliser through Cameron. The midfielder managed to direct his shot into the top corner while being off balance to put a point on the board for United.
As a result, both sides remain locked on the same amount of points (twelve) and occupy the fifth and sixth places, as St Johnstone continue their impressive start to life back in the Premiership.
Dundee 2-2 Rangers.
A game of two halves sees the points shared between Dundee and Rangers.
Dundee had the better of the first period and took a deserved lead on thirty seven minutes. Fink pounced on a mistake at the back from Rangers, and showed great composure to take the ball round Pandur and slot the ball home via the post. Despite a solid half from the hosts, Rangers levelled just five minutes later. Bouanani found the top corner via a deflection after some good defending from Dundee. The second period was much improved from Rangers, and they hit the front on the hour mark, courtesy of a wonder goal from Raskin. After that, many wouldn’t have been alone in thinking Rangers would kick on and put the game to bed; however, a slack pass back from the captain Dan Neil put Callum Jones through on goal, and the midfielder made no mistake with the finish, slotting the ball home. Following the equaliser, Rangers pushed for the winning goal, but Dundee held on to pick up a positive point at Dens Park.
Dundee are now unbeaten in their last three matches and remain in fourth place, two points ahead of Dundee United and St Johnstone. Rangers are now unbeaten in their last seven matches but now sit four points behind Celtic, who put in a statement performance against Hearts.
Celtic 7-1 Hearts.
Celtic break Hearts to round off an entertaining weekend of Scottish Premiership action.
Quick-fire goals from Tierney and Nygren, both from corners, saw Celtic take an early 2-0 lead. Two quickly became three and four, with Callum Osmand bagging a quick-fire brace. Mendy scored a lovely goal to make it 4-1; however, just moments later, McCart put the ball in his own net after brilliant play from Baur to round off the half. Duran received the ball from Tierney and found the corner with a first-time finish to make it six just four minutes into the second half. Høgh did well to find Nygren, who confidently finished to round off a quite spectacular afternoon for the champions.
A day to remember for Celtic as they move four points clear of Rangers at the top of the table following their emphatic win. Up next for Celtic is a home game in Europe against Celta Vigo. On the other hand, a day to forget for all those associated with Hearts. Up next for the Edinburgh side is a trip to Turkey to face Trabzonspor, who have scored eleven in their previous three matches, including a 4-0 win over Galatasaray.
GW 10 fixtures:
Dundee United vs Aberdeen
Falkirk vs Kilmarnock
Rangers vs St Johnstone
St Mirren vs Dundee
Hibernian vs Celtic
Motherwell vs Hearts
