Hearts 2 Celtic 0 (Sunday)
Celtic slumped to their third defeat of the season and ended with ten men at Tynecastle.  Hearts started the brighter side and David Templeton's flick came back off the Celtic post in the early minutes.  Celtic responded strongly however and home 'keeper Jamie MacDonald made excellent stops from both Mohamed Bangura and Kris Commons.  The game was a real end-to-end clash, and recalled Celtic 'keeper Fraser Forster saved well from Jamie Hamill's free-kick.  Hearts went ahead twelve minutes after the break when Templeton controlled Hamill's cross and Rudi Skacel drove past Forster with a powerful angled drive.  Celtic immediately introduced Anthony Stokes for the disappointing Bangura and he headed Commons' corner over the bar.  Commons was shown a straight red card after 64 minutes for a late challenge on Adrian Mrowiec - the fourth player Celtic have had sent off on their last five visits to Tynecastle and Commons' second in succession at the ground.  Celtic's misery continued when Adam Matthews limped off with an ankle knock - and their chances ended when Ryan Stevenson took Templeton's backheel and rounded Forster to fire in the second with nine minutes left.

Aberdeen 4 Dunfermline 0 Athletic (Friday)
Scott Vernon grabbed a Pittodrie hat-trick as Aberdeen overhauled Dunfermline in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.  The home side found the Friday night experiment to their liking when Vernon touched in Ricky Foster's cross after six minutes.  Paul Gallacher then made a great stop from a Vernon header before the striker added the second, guiding in Youl Mawene's flick-on.  Aberdeen added a third on the stroke of half-time when Vernon set up Fraser Fyvie - available again after being on Scotland under-19 Euro qualifiers duty in Belgium - for a crisp finish.  Kari Arnason hit the post for the home side before Vernon completed his hat-trick when he tapped home after substitute Mohamed Chalali's shot rebounded from the post.  Dunfermline have now taken just one point from their last five games and have slumped to second-bottom of the table.

Dundee United 1 Motherwell 3
Stuart McCall's side moved into second place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a thumping Tannadice win.  Keith Lasley put the Fir Park men ahead after 14 minutes from Tom Hateley's pass and the visitors doubled their lead on half-time when Michael Higdon took advantage of Dusan Pernis' poor kick-out to beat the Slovakian goalie.  Motherwell confirmed victory when Garry Kenneth brought down Nicky Law and Higdon slotted in the penalty.  Jon Daly pulled one back for the home side from Paul Dixon's cross - ending a run where United had never lost a match in which he'd scored.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 St Mirren 1
Gregory Tade's late goal earned Caley Thistle their second win of the season in a game they dominated.  St Mirren went ahead when Marc McAusland headed in Gary Teale's corner from the left but the home side levelled when Andrew Shinnie fired in after Richie Foran's header.  Tade drove into the side netting with only Craig Samson to beat then fired a similar chance against the 'keeper's legs on the hour.  Tade finally made his physique count when Shinnie's drive rebounded from the post and hit his legs before beating Samson.  Saints had the ball in the net in stoppage time but Paul McGowan's finish was chalked off for offside.

Kilmarnock 1 St Johnstone 2
Saints' 'SAS' strike force Fran Sandaza and Cillian Sheridan were the key men as Saints got back to winning ways.  Sandaza opened the scoring when he slotted in David Robertson's cross but Killie almost levelled when Rory McKeown's drive rebounded from the bar.  However they did get back into the game when Saints' Steven Anderson headed the ball into his own net from Dean Shiels' corner.  Sheridan won it for the visitors however when Momo Sissoko's backpass was short and Sandaza set his fellow striker up for a cool finish.  The defeat means Killie have won only two of their last eighteen Clydesdale Bank Premier League games.

Rangers 1 Hibernian 0
Rangers opened up a ten-point lead at the top of the table but made heavy weather of it against a stubborn Hibs side.  Graham Stack saved from Gregg Wylde and Nikica Jelavic but Rangers were shot-shy in the first-half - until they missed a penalty in first-half stoppage time.  Stack brought Kyle Lafferty down but Steven Whittaker blasted the spot-kick high over the bar and into the crowd.  Rangers brought on Jamie Ness for Alejandro Bedoya at the break but Hibs almost snatched the lead when Allan McGregor was forced into a save from Junior Agogo.  Rangers made the breakthrough when Wylde's cross was knocked home by Lafferty after 68 minutes.  Hibs seldom looked like levelling and Rangers held on for their ninth win in ten games.

By cbfootball.co.uk   Last updated: 03 October 2011