Resident statto @splstats looks at some of the numbers behind the weekend games, focusing on Kilmarnock, Celtic, Falkirk, Queen’s Park and Arbroath.
6 Kilmarnock climbed into the top six of the Ladbrokes Premiership after a 1-1 draw with Dundee at Dens Park. The Ayrshire side have not finished in the top half since 2010/11 but find themselves occupying sixth spot with nine matches remaining before the split. Kris Boyd opened the scoring for Lee Clark’s side, netting his 199th goal in the Scottish top flight, but Kevin Holt’s equaliser earned Dundee a point. Killie are now unbeaten in their last six matches against Dundee – the last time the Dee beat them was 4-0 in August 2015.
30 Celtic defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 6-0 at Parkhead to move into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. Since Brendan Rodgers took over in the summer, Celtic have recorded 29 wins and one draw in 30 domestic fixtures. That solitary draw came at Inverness in September but goals from Mikael Lustig, Moussa Dembele (3), Kieran Tierney and Scott Brown ensured there would be no repeat. Dembele also scored a hat-trick against St Johnstone last week – he is the first Hoops player to net back-to-back trebles since Henrik Larsson in February 1999. Larsson scored three in a 3-0 victory over Hearts in the SPL then added three more against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup the following week. Dembele has bagged three hat-tricks this season, making him the first Celtic player to do so since 2000/01 when Larsson managed four trebles.
3 Falkirk crushed second-placed Dundee United 3-0 in the Ladbrokes Championship at the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday. The Bairns’ third straight victory saw them climb to third place in the table, just three points behind United and nine behind leaders Hibernian. Peter Houston’s side only lost one league match from this point onwards last season; a repeat of that form would see them as strong contenders for second place, and might even be enough to put Hibs under a bit of pressure at the top. Saturday’s victory was Falkirk’s second home success against United this season – they ran out 3-1 winners in September.
150 Queen’s Park climbed into the Ladbrokes League 1 play-off places for the first time this season after defeating Stenhousemuir 2-0 at Ochilview. Saturday’s success was the Spiders’ third victory over the Warriors at Ochilview this season – they beat them 2-1 in their other league meeting and also recorded a 2-0 victory in the Betfred Cup. Gus MacPherson’s side were in ninth place at the end of October but have lost just two of their last 12 league fixtures and may be starting to dream of promotion to the second tier. Queen’s Park have not played at that level since 1982/83 but it would be fitting if Scotland’s oldest club could mark their 150th birthday with a surprise promotion.
5 Arbroath closed the gap on Forfar at the top of Ladbrokes League 2 to nine points as they came from behind to beat Montrose 3-1 at Links Park. Dick Campbell’s side are currently relying on their excellent away form to keep them in the title race – they have lost their last two matches at home but Saturday marked their fifth consecutive away victory. In fact, the Red Lichties are now just one short of equalling their club record of six straight wins away from home. Arbroath have had the upper hand against the Gable Endies of late – they are now unbeaten in six matches against their Angus rivals.
