Weekend in numbers

4 – Celtic moved four points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership courtesy of a thrilling 4-3 victory over Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle. Greg Taylor scored a 76th-minute winner for the Hoops after goals from James Forrest, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda had been cancelled out by a Lawrence Shankland hat-trick. Shankland became the first player to score a hat-trick against Celtic in the league since November 1985, when Frank McDougall netted four for Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Taylor’s winner was just his second Premiership goal – his other came for Kilmarnock in a 5-0 win over Hamilton Academical in March 2019. Celtic have lost just one of their last 16 matches against Hearts in all competitions.

5 – Kilmarnock defeated Ross County 1-0 at the BBSP Stadium, Rugby Park to move three points clear of their opponents at the bottom of the cinch Premiership. Daniel Armstrong continued his impressive start to the season, netting his seventh goal of the campaign to hand his side the victory. Derek McInnes’ side are now unbeaten in five matches in all competitions – they have picked up three wins and two draws, with Armstrong scoring the winning goal in all three victories. Killie maintained their formidable home record – they have 10 wins in their last 13 league matches at Rugby Park, with their only defeat coming against Celtic back in August.

4 – Queen’s Park thumped Partick Thistle 4-0 at Firhill to climb to third in the cinch Championship table. Goals from Tommy Robson and Stephen Eze and a double from Josh McPake handed Owen Coyle’s side a comprehensive victory that moved them just a point behind leaders Inverness Caledonian Thistle. This was the Spiders’ biggest win over the Jags in any major competition since a February 1927, when they defeated them 7-1 at Firhill. Saturday’s victory ended a run of seven consecutive away defeats against Thistle – their last win was back in September 1982. It was also Queen’s Park’s biggest win in the second tier since March 1975, when they beat Forfar Athletic 4-0 at Hampden.

3 – Kelty Hearts continued their recent good run in cinch League 1 by defeating Falkirk 3-2 at the Falkirk Stadium. Alfredo Agyeman netted a double before Darren Lyon rounded off the victory to move John Potter’s side up to seventh, nine points clear of the relegation places and within five of their opponents in the final play-off spot. This was Kelty’s third consecutive win, and their fifth victory in six matches in all competitions – all five of them by a single goal. It was just the second time the sides had faced each other in a competitive fixture, and Kelty now have two wins out of two.

4 – Elgin City moved into Round 3 of the Scottish Cup courtesy of a 4-0 victory over East of Scotland League side Camelon Juniors. Kane Hester was once more the hero for the Black and Whites, scoring all four of their goals to take his tally for the season to 19 goals in 19 matches in all competitions. Incredibly, this was the second time this month that Hester netted four in a game – he also scored four in a 5-1 win over Annan Athletic three weeks ago. The last Scottish League player to achieve this feat was Neil Martin of Hibernian back in September 1965.