5 – Kilmarnock kicked off their cinch Premiership campaign in style by beating Rangers 1-0 at the BBSP Stadium, Rugby Park. Brad Lyons scored the only goal to give Killie their first opening-day victory in the top flight for five years. Killie have won five of their last eight league matches against Rangers in Ayrshire and have lost just three out of 10 since Rangers were promoted in 2016. Derek McInnes became just the eighth manager to beat Rangers with three different clubs, having previously done so with St Johnstone and Rangers. The other seven managers to do so are Alex Maley (Clyde, Clydebank and Hibernian), Bob Shankly (Falkirk, Dundee and Hibernian), Jock Stein, (Dunfermline Athletic, Hibernian and Celtic), Alex Smith (Stenhousemuir, Aberdeen and Dundee United), Alex Miller (St Mirren, Hibernian and Aberdeen), Tommy McLean (Motherwell, Heart of Midlothian and Dundee United) and Jim Jefferies (Falkirk, Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock).
17 – St Mirren defeated Hibernian 3-2 at Easter Road to seal a dramatic opening-weekend victory in the cinch Premiership. Stephen Robinson’s side led 2-0 through Mark O’Hara and Toyosi Olusanya but were pegged back to 2-2 before Alex Grieve scored an 89th-minute winner to secure all three points. It was Saints’ first opening-day victory away from home in 17 years, since they defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 in July 2006 thanks to goals from Stewart Kean and John Sutton. The victory also ended Hibs’ run of seven straight day-one wins, which had been the longest of any club in the SPFL.
4 – Dundee United thumped Arbroath 4-0 at Gayfield on Friday to make an impressive start to their cinch Championship campaign. Glenn Middleton, Mathew Cudjoe, Craig Sibbald and Louis Moult all found the net in the first half as Jim Goodwin’s side bounced back from a disappointing Viaplay Cup campaign. It was the first time United had scored four goals in the same half of a league game since their 6-2 victory over Dundee in August 2019. Dundee United are now unbeaten in their last 10 visits to Gayfield – their last defeat was back in January 1969.
1 – Falkirk made a winning start to their cinch League 1 campaign, defeating Annan Athletic 3-0 at the Falkirk Stadium thanks to goals from Ross MacIver, Callumn Morrison and Aidan Nesbitt. Incredibly, this was the Bairns’ first ever opening-day victory at the Falkirk Stadium – their last home win on the first day of the league season came 20 years ago, when they defeated Inverness CT 2-1 at Ochilview. Since then, they had played six opening-day matches at the Falkirk Stadium, drawing one and losing five with just a single goal scored. Saturday’s match was the first league meeting between Falkirk and Annan Athletic – their only previous encounter was at Galabank in the Challenge Cup semi-final in October 2011.
3 – Peterhead kicked off their cinch League 2 campaign in fine fashion, defeating East Fife 3-0 at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium. Jack Brown’s opener was followed up by a double from Conor O’Keefe as the Blue Toon picked up just their fourth victory in all competitions since the start of last season. This was Peterhead’s first away win since April 2022, when they defeated Clyde by the same scoreline. The Blue Toon are unbeaten in their last four matches against East Fife – their last loss came in September 2021.
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