Weekend in Numbers

32 – Heart of Midlothian defeated Rangers 2-1 at Tynecastle to remain six points clear at the top of the William Hill Premiership. Quickfire goals from Stuart Findlay and Lawrence Shankland just before half-time made it four wins out of four for Derek McInnes’ side over last season’s top two. Shankland’s goal was his ninth in the league this season, making him the outright top scorer in the Premiership. For the first time in 32 years, a side other than Celtic or Rangers will be top of the league at Christmas – the last side to be top when Santa arrived were Aberdeen in 1993. This is the first time Hearts have beaten Rangers home and away in a top flight season since 1995/96, though they did also do so in the Championship in 2014/15.

10 – Motherwell climbed to third in the William Hill Premiership thanks to a 1-0 win over Dundee at Fir Park. Callum Slattery’s late goal was enough to move Jens Berthel Askou’s side a point ahead of Rangers, and keep them five points behind second-placed Celtic. The Steelmen have not conceded a goal in 581 minutes – their run of six consecutive clean sheets is their best since Alex McLeish led them to seven straight shut-outs from February-April 1996. Motherwell are now unbeaten in 10 league matches – their best run within a season since they went 13 without a loss in 2009/10 under Craig Brown. The Steelmen did also go 10 league games without defeat from April-September 2023, but that spanned two different campaigns.

5 – St Johnstone thumped Greenock Morton 5-0 at McDiarmid Park to move five points clear at the top of the William Hill Championship. Two goals from Jamie Gullan and one apiece from Josh McPake, Sam Stanton and Adama Sidibeh ensured that Simo Valakari’s side maintained their unbeaten home league record. This was Saints’ biggest league win in 19 years, since they beat Queen of the South 5-0 in Perth in October 2006. St Johnstone are now unbeaten in their last 17 matches against Morton in all competitions, winning 12 and drawing five since their last defeat in a Challenge Cup quarter-final back in 2006/07.

5 – Cove Rangers moved further clear of the foot of William Hill League 1 thanks to a 5-2 victory over Kelty Hearts at New Central Park. A Mitch Megginson double and goals from Adam Emslie, Michael Doyle and Lewis O’Donnell handed Paul Hartley’s side their third league win of the season. This was the first time in over five years that Cove had scored five goals away from home – the last time was a 7-1 victory over Stirling Albion in March 2020. Cove maintained their 100% record in competitive matches away to Kelty – they have five wins out of five at New Central Park since their first visit in November 2023.

1 – Spartans defeated Elgin City 1-0 at the Vanloq Community Stadium to return to the top of the William Hill League 2 table. Ayrton Sonkur scored the only goal of the game as Dougie Samuel’s side took advantage of defeats for both East Kilbride and Clyde to move three points clear at the summit. Spartans have lost just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions – they have six wins and four draws in that period.