In the Scottish Premiership, both Celtic and Rangers emerged victorious before the winter break.

Matt O’Riley scored a goal and made an assist within the first six minutes, helping Celtic easily secure a 3-0 win against 10-man St Mirren. Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor also scored for Celtic in Paisley, giving them an eight point lead over Rangers in the Premiership before the winter break. However, Rangers have two games in hand.

St Mirren’s Toyosi Olusanya was sent off in first-half stoppage-time after catching the Celtic goalkeeper, Joe Hart, in the face with a high boot.

The winning team scored their first goal within the first minute of the game, with O’Riley receiving a pass from Callum McGregor and passing it to Maeda who then beat Zach Hemming. O’Riley later scored his 10th goal of the season in the league. Luis Palma assisted Paulo Bernardo’s run into the box, and the Portuguese midfielder got past Alex Gogic to set up O’Riley, who evaded Tanser and successfully kicked the ball through Hemming’s legs.

St Mirren’s sole attempt in the first half was a shot from Olusanya that missed the target. Later, Olusanya’s raised boot hit Hart as he cleared the ball. Referee David Munro initially gave Olusanya a yellow card, but after reviewing the play on VAR, upgraded it to a red card.

In the latter portion, Hemming executed an impressive save on O’Riley, just before Bernardo’s skillfully placed high pass allowed Taylor to score with a volley from six yards out at the 60-minute mark.

The Rangers bounced back from their disappointment in the Old Firm match with a 3-1 victory against Kilmarnock at Ibrox. Despite suffering their first loss under manager Philippe Clement against Celtic, the team took control with goals from Ross McCausland and Abdallah Sima in the latter part of the first half. Kilmarnock put up a fight and scored a goal through Danny Armstrong’s penalty, which was given after a review by VAR. However, Todd Cantwell quickly regained the two-goal lead for the Rangers.

Kenneth Vargas and Lawrence Shankland each found the back of the net in the second half, securing a 2-1 victory for the in-form Hearts against struggling Livingston. Despite missing a penalty while the score was still 0-0, Shankland’s goal proved crucial as Livingston’s Andrew Shinnie converted a penalty in the 79th minute to make for a tense finish. Hearts’ win solidifies their hold on third place.

Elie Youan scored a last-minute goal to save Hibernian from a loss against Motherwell in a 2-2 tie. Despite the visitors’ strong performance with goals from Theo Bair and Bevis Mugabi, Youan’s initial goal was canceled out. However, in the final moments of the match, Youan’s shot went into the net with some help from a deflection, earning Hibs a valuable point.

Aberdeen relieved their worries of being relegated by securing a 3-0 victory against Ross County, who are also struggling. Jamie McGrath scored two goals in the first half, followed by Bojan Miovski’s goal in the 80th minute, allowing the Dons to move four points ahead of County, who are second from the bottom. Unfortunately, St Johnstone’s game against Dundee was cancelled due to weather conditions.

Source: theguardian.com