MX23RW : Wednesday, May 15 16:41:17| >> :600:120540:120540:

Five things we learned from this weekend's Scottish Premiership matches

Five things we learned from this weekend's Scottish Premiership matches
© Reuters
Top two Celtic and Rangers both picked up wins.

Celtic stayed top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with an impressive 4-0 victory over Aberdeen.

But Rangers remained right on their tails after they edged out Motherwell 2-1 at Ibrox.

Elsewhere, Kilmarnock moved up to third and both Hearts and Hibernian drew as the Edinburgh clubs' struggles continued.

Here are five other things we learned from the weekend's action.

Celtic are over their blip

The champions saw the advantage of their Ibrox victory wiped out when they dropped five points in consecutive away games against Hibernian and Livingston. But they have bounced back in style over a memorable nine-day period. A 6-0 thrashing of Ross County was followed by an impressive Europa League win over Lazio and they were, in manager Neil Lennon's words, "absolutely red hot" as they hit four first-half goals at Pittodrie.

Aberdeen are struggling to compete at the top

Manager Derek McInnes was already resigned to watching Rangers and Celtic fight it out for the title from afar but urged his team to land some blows on the Glasgow pair. However, he was "astonished" at some of his team's defending and was shocked at a lack of determination and tackling as his side followed their recent 5-0 thrashing at Ibrox with another limp display.

Kilmarnock are finding match-winners

The Ayrshire side moved up to third after a 1-0 win over St Mirren – their eighth clean sheet in 10 matches. They had three goalless draws earlier in that run but they have now won three matches on the trot. Gary Dicker joined the likes of Rory McKenzie, Chris Burke, Stephen O'Donnell and Dom Thomas in grabbing winners as Angelo Alessio's side share the goals around.

A two-goal cushion is not enough for Hibernian

For the fifth time in six matches, Hibs failed to win after taking the lead. Even the most pessimistic fan at Easter Road would have thought they were on route to their first league win since the opening day when they went two up against Ross County inside 56 minutes. But Brian Graham's 74th-minute strike sparked anxiety all round and Joe Chalmers hit a last-minute leveller. Paul Heckingbottom's side have now lost 13 points from winning positions.

Filip Helander has come to the fore for Rangers

Filip Helander, left, celebrates his winner
Filip Helander, left, celebrates his winner (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The Swede had an underwhelming start to life at Ibrox following his multi-million pound move from Bologna with an ankle injury not helping matters. He endured an uncomfortable night at Livingston last month but has kick-started his Gers career over the past week. The centre-back followed a commanding display in Porto by heading a late winner against Motherwell.

ID:376518: cacheID:376518:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:8062:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Celtic manager Neil Lennon on October 24, 2019
Read Next:
Neil Lennon heaps praise on "outstanding" and "magnificent" Celtic
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic330087285987
2RangersRangers430184295584
3Hearts311149371266
4Kilmarnock31114538755
5St Mirren31024247-546
6Dundee40044867-1941
Relegation Group
1Aberdeen33004149-844
2Motherwell32015554143
3Hibernian31024858-1042
4Ross County31023564-2933
5St Johnstone30032652-2631
RLivingston32012764-3724
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
RLivingston3339212259-3718


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!