5 – Rangers closed the goal difference gap on Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership thanks to a 5-0 victory over Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox on Sunday. The Light Blues have now recorded eight consecutive home wins in all competitions and have won 17 out of 18 at Ibrox since the start of April, with the only exception being the 2-0 loss to Celtic in September. The Gers have nine wins and a draw in their last 10 matches against Hearts at Ibrox, racking up a 24-4 aggregate scoreline. It’s the fifth time Steven Gerrard’s side have scored five or more goals at Ibrox this season, compared to three times in the whole of last season.
Rangers’ five star showings
18/07/2019 – Rangers 6-0 St Joseph’s (Europa League)
11/08/2019 – Rangers 6-1 Hibernian (Premiership)
28/09/2019 – Rangers 5-0 Aberdeen (Premiership)
06/10/2019 – Rangers 5-0 Hamilton Academical (Premiership)
01/12/2019 – Rangers 5-0 Heart of Midlothian (Premiership)
4 – Motherwell thumped St Johnstone 4-0 at Fir Park to hold on to fourth place in the Ladbrokes Premiership. Devante Cole, Peter Hartley, Jake Carroll and Christy Mazinga were all on target for Stephen Robinson’s side as they recorded a third consecutive league win at Fir Park. Saturday’s success was the Steelmen’s biggest league win in over four years, since a 5-0 victory over St Mirren in April 2015. Motherwell have won eight league matches by four or more goals this decade, and four of those eight came against Saints.
Motherwell’s four-goal league wins in the 2010s
10/11/2010 – Motherwell 4-0 St Johnstone
28/04/2012 – Motherwell 5-1 St Johnstone
18/11/2012 – Inverness Caley Thistle 1-5 Motherwell
29/12/2013 – Partick Thistle 1-5 Motherwell
01/01/2014 – Motherwell 4-0 St Johnstone
20/03/2015 – Motherwell 4-0 Hamilton Academical
07/04/2015 – Motherwell 5-0 St Mirren
30/11/2019 – Motherwell 4-0 St Johnstone
4 – Dunfermline Athletic thrashed Partick Thistle 5-1 to move to within two points of the promotion play-off places in the Ladbrokes Championship. Kevin Nisbet was the Pars’ hero, netting four of his side’s goals to take his tally for the season to 15. It is his second hat-trick – he scored three against Albion Rovers in the Betfred Cup in July. Nisbet is just the second Pars player this century to score four or more goals in a game; the other was Nicky Clark, who managed it twice in 2017.
Four goals in a second-tier match since 2000
02/01/2001 – Glynn Hurst (Ayr United) v Greenock Morton (A) [5 goals]
27/03/2001 – Ross Hamilton (Alloa Athletic) v Airdrieonians (H)
19/09/2001 – Dennis Wyness (Inverness CT) v Raith Rovers (H)
11/02/2006 – Roddy Hunter (Clyde) v Stranraer (A)
25/04/2009 – Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) v Clyde (H)
03/05/2014 – Mickael Antoine-Curier (Hamilton Academical) v Greenock Morton (H)
04/03/2017 – Nicky Clark (Dunfermline Athletic) v Dumbarton (H)
01/09/2018 – Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) v Ayr United (H)
30/11/2018 – Lawrence Shankland (Ayr United) v Dundee United (A)
03/08/2019 – Lawrence Shankland (Dundee United) v Inverness CT (H)
30/11/2019 – Kevin Nisbet (Dunfermline Athletic) v Partick Thistle (H)
6 – Airdrieonians remain top of Ladbrokes League 1 thanks to a 4-0 victory over East Fife at the Penny Cars Stadium. Ian Murray’s side were beaten 4-1 at Bayview in the reverse fixture in August but have turned things around dramatically in recent weeks to surge to the top of the table. The Diamonds have recorded six consecutive victories in all competitions, racking up an impressive 19 goals in the process. This is their best run since March-April 2012, a season which culminated in promotion to the second tier.
Airdrie’s six in a row
26/10/2019 – Forfar Athletic 1-4 Airdrieonians (Ladbrokes League 1)
02/11/2019 – Airdrieonians 3-1 Dumbarton (Ladbrokes League 1)
09/11/2019 – Falkirk 1-2 Airdrieonians (Ladbrokes League 1)
16/11/2019 – Stranraer 0-2 Airdrieonians (Ladbrokes League 1)
23/11/2019 – Albion Rovers 1-4 Airdrieonians (Scottish Cup)
30/11/2019 – Airdrieonians 4-0 East Fife (Ladbrokes League 1)
6 – Annan Athletic recorded the shock result of the weekend by battering Ladbrokes League 2 leaders Cove Rangers 6-1 at Galabank. Tommy Muir netted a hat-trick for the Galabankies – he is just the fourth player to score a league hat-trick since the club joined the SPFL, joining David Hopkirk, Peter Weatherston and Blair Henderson. Peter Murphy’s side have not lost at home in the league in 2019 – Saturday’s result extends their unbeaten run to 17 matches, with their last defeat coming against Edinburgh City last December.
Current SPFL unbeaten home league records
26 – Celtic
17 – Annan Athletic
9 – Dundee United
8 – Edinburgh City
8 – Raith Rovers
7 – Cove Rangers [+ 17 in the Highland League]
7 - Kilmarnock
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