@splstats looks at some of the numbers behind the weekend games, with the focus on Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hibernian and Dunfermline.
14 Dundee United defeated Partick Thistle 1-0 at Tannadice to move into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. Incredibly, this will be a 14th consecutive domestic cup quarter-final for the Terrors, a run which stretches all the way back to the 2009/10 League Cup. The last time United failed to reach the last eight in either cup competition was back in the 2008/09 Scottish Cup, when Hamilton Accies eliminated them at the last16 stage. Chris Swailes, who scored a double for Accies that day, is now 45 years old. United are still three years away from beating the record of 19 consecutive quarter-final appearances, set by Rangers between 1995 and 2004.
12 Aberdeen defeated St Johnstone 4-3 at McDiarmid Park to move level on points with Celtic at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership. The Dons are now unbeaten in 12 league matches, picking up nine wins and three draws since their defeat at Celtic Park back in October. The Dons embarked on a 13-match unbeaten run at an almost identical stage last season, and will be hoping to improve on that this time around. Adam Rooney has been central to their impressive run – Saturday’s double meant that the striker has scored 12 times in his last 14 Premiership matches.
2 Hibernian kept their Scottish Cup hopes alive thanks to an impressive late comeback against Hearts at Tynecastle. Alan Stubbs’ side trailed 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining, but goals from Jason Cummings and Paul Hanlon secured a replay at Easter Road next week. It’s the first time since 1998 that the Hibees have come back from two goals behind to avoid defeat in an Edinburgh derby – that was also a 2-2 draw at Tynecastle, with Andy Walker and Pat McGinlay cancelling out an early Stevie Fulton double. Hibs are now unbeaten in their last seven away matches in the Scottish Cup – they have picked up six wins and a draw since losing to Ayr United in January 2011.
10 Dunfermline Athletic extended their lead at the top of Ladbrokes League 1 to eight points following a 3-0 victory over Stenhousemuir at Ochilview on Saturday. Allan Johnston’s men have only lost once away from home in the league this season - that was way back in August when Peterhead beat them 2-1 at Balmoor. Since then, the Pars have gone 10 away league matches without defeat, which leaves them just three games short of a club record set back in 1985/86. Faissal El Bakhtaoui took his tally for the season to 20 goals, making him the second Pars player to reach that mark since Stevie Crawford in 2002/03. Andy Kirk also netted 20 goals in the 2010/11 campaign.
4 The Ladbrokes League 2 table remained as tight as ever following Saturday’s fixtures, with all four matches finishing up as draws. Elgin City remain top after their 0-0 draw with Queen’s Park, but there are just 10 points separating the top six, with sixth-placed Clyde having three games in hand over Elgin. At the opposite end of the division, East Stirlingshire twice came from behind against Berwick Rangers to ensure they remained just two points adrift of their opponents at the foot of the table.
