Weekend in numbers

3 – Celtic moved to within three points of the top of the William Hill Premiership after coming from behind to beat Kilmarnock 3-2 at the BBSP Stadium Rugby Park. Martin O’Neill’s side trailed 2-0 at half-time but Sebastian Tounekti and Benjamin Nygren levelled things up before Julian Araujo scored a stoppage-time winner. Nygren is now joint top goalscorer in the Premiership with 13 goals, level with Tawanda Maswanhise of Motherwell. This was the third consecutive game in which Celtic have scored a decisive goal in stoppage time, and the 11th time this season they have scored in the last five minutes of a match across all competitions. This was Celtic’s eighth consecutive victory against Killie in all competitions.

3 – Rangers boosted their William Hill Premiership title hopes by defeating leaders Heart of Midlothian 4-2 at Ibrox. A hat-trick from Youssef Chermiti plus a Michael Steinwender own goal helped Danny Rohl’s side move just two points behind their opponents at the summit. Chermiti is the third different Rangers player to score a hat-trick this year - Bojan Miovski (v Annan Athletic) and James Tavernier (v Queen’s Park) both did so in the Scottish Cup. He is the first Portuguese player to net a treble in the top flight since Jorge Cadete scored three for Celtic in a 6-0 win over Kilmarnock in January 1997. Rangers are now unbeaten in 10 league matches – they have picked up eight wins and two draws since losing to Hearts at Tynecastle in December.

9 – St Johnstone extended their lead at the top of the William Hill Championship thanks to a 1-0 victory over Airdrieonians at the Albert Bartlett Stadium. Ruari Paton scored on his Saints debut to move Simo Valakari’s side five points clear of Partick Thistle, with both teams now having played the same number of games. St Johnstone have the best defensive record in the William Hill Championship, conceding just 20 goals in 24 matches, and have kept clean sheets in six of their last eight matches in all competitions. Saints are unbeaten in their last nine league meetings with the Diamonds, winning eight and drawing one, although they did lose to them in the Scottish Cup in 2024.

8 – Alloa Athletic defeated Queen of the South 2-1 at Palmerston to further reinforce their spot in the top four of William Hill League 1. Kurtis Roberts scored a late winner for the Wasps, after Luke Donnelly’s first-half opener had been cancelled out. Andy Graham’s side are now eight points clear of fifth-placed Montrose, and just two behind their third-placed opponents with a game in hand. This was just a third win in 14 matches for the Wasps, who had looked in slight danger of slipping out of the top four. Alloa ended a run of eight matches without a win over the Doonhamers – they had lost four and drawn four since a 1-0 home win in November 2023.

1 – East Kilbride beat Annan Athletic 4-2 at Galabank to move just a point behind Spartans at the top of William Hill League 2. A double from Connor Young and goals from John Robertson and Joao Balde handed Mick Kennedy’s side three crucial points in the title race. Kilby have now recorded three consecutive wins after wobbling through December and January. This was East Kilbride’s first victory over Annan – in three previous meetings in the League and Challenge Cup, they had lost two and drawn one.