Resident statto @splstats looks at some of the key numbers from the weekend, focusing on Celtic, Aberdeen, Livingston and East Fife.
31 – Celtic remain top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after Olivier Ntcham’s goal handed them a 1-0 victory over Dundee at Celtic Park. The Hoops are now unbeaten in 48 Premiership matches and 59 in all domestic competitions – their last defeat came against St Johnstone back in May 2016. Saturday’s victory extended their impressive run of form against Dundee – they are now unbeaten in their last 31 matches against the Dee, picking up 26 wins and five draws. Dundee’s last win over the Bhoys was back in May 2001, when a Fabian Caballero double handed them a 2-0 victory over a Celtic side which had already won the SPL title.
9 – Aberdeen remain level on points with Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after beating Hibernian 1-0 at Easter Road. Derek McInnes’ side have picked up seven wins and two draws in the league this season; it is the first time the Dons have gone unbeaten through their first nine league matches since 1988/89. Aberdeen are now unbeaten on their last 10 league visits to Easter Road, picking up six wins and four draws. Hibs’ last home league win over the Dons was in October 2009, when late goals from Colin Nish and Liam Miller handed them a 2-0 victory over nine men.
11 – Livingston climbed up to second place in the Ladbrokes Championship after beating Dundee United 2-0 at the Tony Macaroni Arena. It was the first competitive meeting of the two sides in over 11 years – their last encounter was in the SPL in April 2006, when the Lions won 3-1 thanks to goals from Sam Morrow, Harald Pinxten and Richie Brittain. Livi have recorded four consecutive Championship wins – the last time they managed this in the second tier was back in August 2008. David Hopkin’s side are just three points behind St Mirren at the top of the table and may be starting to fancy their chances of becoming the first side since Gretna to record consecutive promotions from the third tier to the top tier.
5 – East Fife climbed into the Ladbrokes League 1 play-off spots after a thrilling 5-4 victory over Albion Rovers at Bayview. The points seemed to be heading to Coatbridge after Alan Trouten put Rovers 4-2 up in the 78th minute, and although the Fifers pulled one back in the 80th minute, they still looked set for defeat before Scott Linton and Greg Hurst both scored in stoppage time to hand them an unlikely win. It was the first time in almost seven years that the Fifers had scored five or more goals in a third-tier match – the last time they did so was back in December 2010, when they defeated Stenhousemuir 6-0.
9 – Peterhead moved into the third round of the Scottish Cup after defeating Scottish Amateur Cup winners Colville Park 9-0 at Balmoor. Rory McAllister was in scintillating form in front of goal, scoring five times to take his career tally to 228 goals, 157 of them for the Blue Toon. The last time Peterhead scored nine times in a competitive match was back in January 2008, when they beat Berwick Rangers 9-2. Rory McAllister was also on the scoresheet in that match – it was his first goal for the club.
