Hearts 1 St Johnstone 2
Saints continued their impressive run with a fine win at Tynecastle.  Liam Craig took advantage of a defensive mix-up between Marius Zaliukas and Marian Kello to lob in the opener.  Hearts struggled to penetrate a well-organised Saints defence but were handed the chance to equalise when John Sutton was brought down by David McCracken - only for Peter Enckleman to save Jamie Hamill's penalty.  Saints extended their lead when Eggert Jonsson fouled Murray Davidson and Dave Mackay fired in from the spot.  Mehdi Taouil gave Hearts brief hopes when he pulled one back with four minutes left but St Johnstone held out to consolidate fourth spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Kilmarnock 2 Aberdeen 0
Craig Brown's Aberdeen slumped to the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after defeat at Rugby Park.  The home side went ahead after five minutes when Andy Considine's header fell short of 'keeper Jason Brown and Gary Harkins beat him to it to score.  Killie wrapped the points up when substitute James Dayton was sent clear by Harkins and the English winger's low drive was powerful enough to beat Brown.  Killie now move into the top six but Aberdeen have mounting problems after another disappointing display.  The Dons have now won only two of their last twelve games and a powerful Rory McArdle drive which Cammy Bell touched over was as close as they came.

Rangers 2 Dunfermline Athletic 1
Rangers took the three points at home to Dunfermline - but needed a controversial penalty to beat Jim McIntyre's side.  The home side went in front when Paul Gallacher's kick-out rebounded off his own defender Alex Keddie into his net - and the points seemed safe when Sone Aluko was judged to have been tripped by Gary Mason.  Despite the Pars' protests, Nikica Jelavic scored from the spot to put Rangers two up.  Dunfermline pulled one back before the break when Joe Cardle took Martin Hardie's pass and beat Allan McGregor.  The Pars pressed for an equaliser after the interval and Cardle's cross found Andrew Barrowman only for the striker to blast over.

St Mirren 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2
Caley Thistle moved off the bottom of the table with an excellent win at New St Mirren Park.  They went ahead after eleven minutes when Jonny Hayes took advantage of slack defending to set up Andrew Shinnie to blast home.  However the home side levelled in first-half stoppage time when Steven Thompson headed home Gary Teale's corner.  Inverness C.T. regained the lead halfway through the second-half when Hayes curled in a superb shot on the turn from 20 yards out.  The home fans' claims for a penalty in the final minutes were waved away when Kenny Gillet appeared to handle the ball inside the area and Terry Butcher's side hung on for victory.

Dundee United 0 Celtic 1 (Sunday)
Gary Hooper's early goal - his eighth in eight games - returned Celtic to within four points of Rangers at the top of the table.  The striker took James Forrest's pass, skipped past Gavin Gunning and slammed a shot across goalkeeper Dusan Pernis into the far corner.  A one-two between Cha Du-Ri and Hooper gave the Korean a chance but he shot wide and Celtic's best two efforts after the break both fell to Forrest, who fired both wide of the target.  United were disappointing and have beaten Celtic only once in 43 attempts.  Willo Flood blazed their best opening wide of the target.  Celtic skipper Scott Brown continued his return from injury as he appeared as a second-half substitute.

Motherwell v Hibernian (Friday)
Friday night's game between Motherwell and Hibs was called off on police advice at half-time because of a floodlight fire.  The second-half was delayed due to a small electrical fire within a floodlight in the South Stand and, with police not receiving assurances of safety, the match was abandoned.  Hibs were leading 1-0 at the break in Pat Fenlon's first game in charge thanks to Garry O'Connor's 16th-minute strike.

By cbfootball.co.uk   Last updated: 05 December 2011