3 – Celtic defeated Aberdeen 1-0 at Hampden to win the Betfred Cup for the third consecutive season. The Hoops are the first side to win the trophy three years running since Graeme Souness’ Rangers managed it between 1986/87 and 1988/89. The only other side to wins three or more straight League Cup trophies was Jock Stein’s Celtic, who claimed the silverware five times in a row between 1965/66 and 1969/70. Brendan Rodgers and his side have now won seven consecutive domestic trophies and they have picked up 22 wins out of 22 in cup competitions since the Northern Irishman took over in 2016.
7 – Rangers moved to the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership thanks to a 2-1 victory over Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle. Alfredo Morelos netted the winning goal to become just the fifth player this century to score in seven straight Premiership matches. Rudi Skacel (Hearts, 2005), Kris Boyd (Kilmarnock, 2005), Niall McGinn (Aberdeen, 2012) and David Clarkson (Dundee, 2014) are the only others who have scored in seven straight top-flight matches since 2000. Morelos is still three games short of matching Mark Viduka’s SPL/Premiership era record of 10 straight games between November 1999 and March 2000.
3 – Kilmarnock moved up to third in the Ladbrokes Premiership thanks to an electrifying 3-0 victory over Hibernian at Rugby Park. Eamonn Brophy was the bright spark for Killie, scoring twice to lead them to their first home win against the Hibees since August 2011. Killie’s current run of form has seen them lose just once in their last 10 Premiership matches.
4 – Leaders Ayr United thrashed Dundee United 5-0 at Tannadice on Friday night to put a marker down in the Ladbrokes Championship title race. Lawrence Shankland was in scintillating form, netting four to take his tally to 26 goals from 24 matches this season. Shankland was the first visiting player to score four goals in a match at Tannadice since April 1958, when future Scotland and Tottenham star John White scored five times for Alloa Athletic in a 7-1 victory.
5 – Arbroath remain 10 points clear at the top of Ladbrokes League 1 after crushing Stenhousemuir 5-2 at Gayfield. The Red Lichties have recorded six consecutive league wins for the first time since “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy (featuring RikRok) was in the UK charts, back in February-March 2001. Coincidentally, the sixth win in that run also came against Stenhousemuir. Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s defeat to Falkirk on Saturday means Dick Campbell’s men are now the only unbeaten side left in the SPFL – they have picked up 12 wins and three draws from their 15 matches.
5 – Stirling Albion continued their turnaround under Kevin Rutkiewicz by coming from 2-0 down to thump Elgin City 5-2 at Forthbank in Ladbrokes League 2. It was the first time in over two-and-a-half years that the Binos had scored five or more goals in a game – the last time they managed it was a 7-0 victory over Montrose in February 2016. Darren Smith netted a hat-trick that day and scored a double on Saturday, which was first start of the season after injury.
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