1 – Rangers won the first silverware of the season, beating Aberdeen 1-0 at Hampden to secure the Viaplay Cup. James Tavernier’s 76th-minute strike was enough to give the Light Blues their first success in this competition since 2010/11. Rangers have now won the League Cup a record 28 times, seven more than Celtic, who are the next most successful club in the competition. This was the sixth consecutive final to be decided by a one-goal margin – there have been four 1-0s and two 2-1s since Celtic defeated Motherwell 2-0 in 2017/18.
14 – Heart of Midlothian defeated Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park to climb to third place in the cinch Premiership table. Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley scored the goals to inflict Celtic’s first home league defeat in 52 matches, and almost three years. It was Hearts’ first away win over Celtic in 14 years, since a Michael Stewart goal gave them a 1-0 win in the League Cup in October 2009. Since then they had visited 24 times, losing 23 and drawing once. Steven Naismith’s side have won six away matches in all competitions already this season, matching their tally for the whole of last term.
8 – Raith Rovers extended their lead at the top of the cinch Championship to five points thanks to a 1-0 victory over title rivals Dundee United at Tannadice. Dylan Easton scored the only goal of the game to give Ian Murray’s side a seventh consecutive victory and extend their unbeaten run to 13 matches in all competitions. Rovers have now won eight away matches in a row and are just one short of their club record of nine, which was set between January and April 1995 to help them secure the 1st Division title.
1 – Falkirk defeated Hamilton Academical 3-1 at New Douglas Park to leapfrog their opponents and move back to the top of cinch League 1. A Callumn Morrison double and a goal from Calvin Miller helped John McGlynn’s side move three points clear of Accies with a game in hand. Falkirk are now the only SPFL club who remain unbeaten in the league – they have 12 wins and four draws from 16 matches. The Bairns are unbeaten in 21 matches in all competitions since their Viaplay Cup group stage defeat to Dundee United in July – they are now just two short of the club record set in 1994.
4 – The Spartans strengthened their grip on a promotion play-off spot in cinch League 2 with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Elgin City at Borough Briggs. They scored twice in the opening six minutes through Blair Henderson and Cammy Russell, before Henderson added two more to make it seven wins out of nine for Dougie Samuel’s side. It was Henderson’s eighth hat-trick since joining Spartans in the summer of 2021, and he became the first player to score one for the club since they joined the SPFL. Henderson’s last SPFL hat-trick came against the same opposition almost exactly five years ago – he scored a treble for Edinburgh City against Elgin in December 2018.
