6 – Celtic thumped Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden to cruise into the Premier Sports Cup final. A hat-trick from Daizen Maeda plus goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn ensured that Celtic reached the final for the seventh time in the last nine seasons. Maeda was the first Celtic player in over a decade to score a hat-trick in the Premier Sports Cup, since John Guidetti scored three in a 6-0 win over Partick Thistle in October 2014. This was the biggest winning margin in a League Cup semi-final in almost 20 years, since Rangers beat Dundee United 7-1 in February 2005. In fact, it was just the fifth time a side has won a League Cup semi by six or more goals – the others were Heart of Midlothian 9-3 Cowdenbeath (1959/60), Rangers 7-0 Queen of the South (1960/61) and Celtic 7-1 Greenock Morton (1967/68).
3 – Holders Rangers also reached the Premier Sports Cup final thanks to a 2-1 victory over Motherwell at Hampden. The Light Blues trailed at half-time but goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami turned things around to seal their spot back at Hampden next month. This will be Rangers’ third consecutive Premier Sports Cup final – this is their longest run of finals in either cup competition since they reached four League Cup finals in a row from 2007/08 to 2010/11.
6 – Dundee defeated Kilmarnock 3-2 at the Scot Foam Stadium at Dens Park to climb into the top six of the William Hill Premiership. Tony Docherty’s side trailed 2-0 but turned things around thanks to goals from Seb Palmer-Houlden, Jordan McGhee and Ziyad Larkeche. The victory ended a run of six games without a win over Killie – they had lost two and drawn four since their Premiership play-off victory back in May 2021. This was the first time Dundee had come from two behind to win a top-flight match since December 2016, when they defeated Heart of Midlothian 3-2 with goals from Darren O’Dea, Paul McGowan and Marcus Haber.
6 – Falkirk extended their lead at the top of the William Hill Championship to six points thanks to a 6-0 victory over Greenock Morton at the Falkirk Stadium. A double from Brad Spencer plus goals from Keelan Adams, Ethan Ross, Gary Oliver and Calvin Miller helped John McGlynn’s side continue their incredible home unbeaten run. The Bairns have not lost any of their last 24 home league games – they have won 19 and drawn five since losing to Edinburgh City in April 2023. This is just the third time this century that Falkirk have won a second-tier match by six or more goals – they beat Airdrie 8-0 at Brockville in March 2000 and Cowdenbeath 6-0 at the Falkirk Stadium in October 2014.
5 – Alloa Athletic thumped Annan Athletic 5-0 at the Indodrill Stadium to move up to second place in William Hill League 1. Two goals from Luke Donnelly and one apiece from Cameron O’Donnell, Luke Rankin and Conor Sammon moved Andy Graham’s side level with leaders Cove Rangers on goal difference, and they now only trail on goals scored. This is Alloa’s biggest win since August 2022, when they defeated Peterhead 5-0. The Wasps are now unbeaten in their last nine meetings with the Galabankies – they have six wins and three draws in a run stretching back to January 2012.
0 – Elgin City defeated Stranraer 1-0 at Borough Briggs to maintain their unbeaten start to the William Hill League 2 season. Jack Murray’s early goal was enough to move Allan Hale’s side level on points with East Fife at the top of the table, although they are still in second place on goal difference. With six wins and five draws in the league, Elgin are one of just three unbeaten sides in the SPFL, alongside Celtic and Aberdeen who have both played one game fewer. Elgin have picked up three wins and a draw in four matches against Stranraer in 2024 which is a big turnaround from 2023, when they lost all four meetings.
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