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Five talking points from this weekend's Scottish Premiership action

Five talking points from this weekend's Scottish Premiership action
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Rangers and Celtic go into their Scottish Cup clash in confident mood while Jamie McGrath shows he is not perfect.

Celtic found their scoring touch while Rangers' win over Hibernian will come as welcome news to Aberdeen, who have now cut the gap on the Easter Road men to four points in the race for third place.

Here the PA news agency takes a look at what else we learned from the weekend's Premiership action.

Heaven 17 for Rangers

Steven Gerrard's team have transformed Ibrox into a fortress this season, winning all 17 league games on home soil. Hibs became only the third Scottish side to even score in Govan this term, following Motherwell and Dundee United, but Kevin Nisbet's goal was not enough to stop the new champions marching to a 2-1 victory thanks to strikes from Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent.

Celtic back on the goal trail

Celtic picked a good time to rediscover their goalscoring hunger. The Hoops' 6-0 hammering of Livingston on Saturday was their biggest Premiership win of the season and came a week before their Scottish Cup tie against newly-crowned champions Rangers. Mohamed Elyounuoussi grabbed a brace and James Forrest, David Turnbull and Ryan Christie were also on the scoresheet. along with a Jack Fitzwater own goal. John Kennedy's side will travel to Ibrox ย with confidence as they look to retain the trophy for the fifth successive season.

All to play for in the bottom three

Kilmarnock missed the chance to jump out of the danger zone when Ross County twice equalised at Rugby Park. Hamilton fell further adrift after their relegation rivals drew but โ€“ having had 27 shots at goal โ€“ they showed more than enough in a 1-0 defeat by Dundee United to suggest they will at least go down fighting and possibly mount another great escape with some better luck. Just three points separate the bottom three, while Motherwell's victory over St Mirren put them 11 ahead of Accies.

Jamie McGrath is fallible at penalties

The St Mirren midfielder had scored eight from eight this season before Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly saved his effort at Fir Park. Kelly had been one of his earlier victims but waited until the last moment before diving to his left and making the stop.

Stephen Glass is arriving at a good time

The new Aberdeen manager will have been delighted to see his side record a second consecutive 1-0 win while sitting in his quarantine hotel room. The victory over St Johnstone gave the Dons an eight-point cushion in the race for a guaranteed European place and kept alive hopes of catching Hibernian. A second win in 11 league games also gave them a boost ahead of their Scottish Cup clash with Livingston.

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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic110082275581
2RangersRangers110074245078
3Hearts101046341263
4Kilmarnock10104334952
5St Mirren10013945-643
6Dundee10014556-1141
Relegation Group
1Hibernian11004752-542
2Aberdeen11003649-1338
3Motherwell10014652-637
4St Johnstone10012549-2431
5Ross County10013258-2630
6Livingston11002459-3521
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
12Livingston3339212259-3718


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