Scottish Premiership
That's all from us for the moment, but join us for the final Premiership game of the weekend on Sunday as third-top Rangers visit Ross County.
It is a noon kick-off in Dingwall, weather permitting, as the visitors look to narrow the gap again on leaders Celtic and Aberdeen.
BBC Scotland (19:15) & BBC One Scotland (23:35)
Our coverage of the Premiership is not quite over yet for the day.
Sportscene brings you highlights of today's five games on the BBC Scotland channel, repeated later on BBC One Scotland - and watch out for that superb finish from Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi.
Host Steven Thompson is joined by fellow former Rangers and Scotland player Neil McCann along with ex-Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger Aiden McGeady.
FT: Dundee United 1-1 Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "It's no more than we deserved. I thought it was a really gutsy, gritty performance. We were competitive throughout. It's exactly the type of performance that was required after the other night.
"I thought it would've been harsh on us to lose this game 1-0. We thought later in the game, the subs would be important for us and I think that proved pivotal.
"Character was screaming out the team and I'm absolutely delighted that we've got something from the game."
Image source, SNSDerek McInnes took a point from his old stomping ground
FT: Dundee United 1-1 Kilmarnock
United are now undefeated in five Premiership games, while Kilmarnock have failed to win in their latest six.
The upside for the visitors is that they have won 11 points from losing positions in the Premiership this season - more than any other team.
FT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers tells BBC Scotland: "The win was very good on the back of the midweek game against Aberdeen. Some of our attacking play was excellent.
"Our downside for today was our pressing - it was nowhere near what I would want and expect it to be - and that gave them chances. Thankfully, I have a top international goalkeeper, who, when we needed him, made saves.
"I can trigger [the option for another year in Schmeichel's contract] at any time; I wouldn't tell you, I would tell him first."
FT: Dundee United 1-1 Kilmarnock
United manager Jim Goodwin was also asked about the possibility of scorer Sam Dalby remaining at Tannadice beyond his current loan deal from Wrexham.
"We want to be at the table when those conversations need to take place, but right now we're not wanting any distractions," he says.
"Sam and his representatives know where we are and they know that we would love the big fellow to stay longer term."
FT: Dundee United 1-1 Kilmarnock
Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Scotland: "Over the whole piece, we did enough to win the game. First half, I felt we had really good control. Second half, a little bit different.
"Jack Walton has had to make a couple of good saves. Delighted to get our noses in front with the goal that we scored.
"There are a few decisions then thereafter that I think will be talking points on the Sportscene show tonight. Sam Dalby feels that the goalkeeper, O'Hara, has completely wiped him out for that cross that's come in the box.
"I'm not sure there's much contact from the goalkeeper on the ball and there's certainly a punch to the head and a knee in the back for Dalby. That's one that could go either way. The penalty that we give ourselves, it's really, really soft."
Image source, SNSFT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Hibernian head coach David Gray tells BBC Scotland: "Firstly, disappointed to lose the game. We'll never accept losing a game of football, but everything I asked the players to do was there for large periods.
"When you get big opportunities, though, you need to take them. That's cost us today - their goalkeeper gets man of the match.
"We came away from the game losing 3-0, so I'm not going to be overly positive for that reason. We had three or four clear-cut chances - I can't remember a Hibs side coming here and having so many.
"The fact we're created is a positive. If I didn't see the attacking intent we've got, I'd be much more concerned."
Image source, SNSFT: Heart of Midlothian 2-0 Dundee
Lawrence Shankland burst back to scoring form thanks to nine goal attempts - the highest total for any player in the Premiership this season. In contrast, visitors Dundee failed to muster an attempt on target.
The Scotland striker's two goals against Dundee takes his total to only three for the season - but it still makes him Hearts' top league scorer.
FT: St Mirren 0-1 Motherwell
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "Over the moon that we break the run we were on before today.
"We showed we weren't content with that run. I feel we were deserving of it, especially in the second half. I felt the momentum was with ourselves. I thought we carved out the two best opportunities.
"The biggest thing for us today was to try and arrest the silly goals we conceded and we did that. It was a fantastic finish from Tony Watt to get his first goal of this second spell - he's waited patiently. It's big for confidence for the players."
FT: Aberdeen 1-1 St Johnstone
St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari tells BBC Scotland: "A good performance from our boys against a very good team. Excellent first half, we created good moments and were solid. Credit to Aberdeen for how they scored, but the rest of the match we kept them to not being as dangerous.
"Where we have been struggling is we have not been solid in defence. We know we have a threat and can play, but we first need to be solid to have the foundation to attack.
"The last few games we have been solid. Credit to Kyle Cameron, it's not easy to step in during the warm up, but one of our values is we have to always be ready. He was fantastic."
FT: St Mirren 0-1 Motherwell
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "I thought it was a poor game. There wasn't a lot of quality on show because the weather made it difficult to play any kind of football.
"We had the better chances, but we didn't take them and you're always open to losing a goal.
"We showed a lack of quality and composure. I thought we were the better team on the day, but if you don't take your chances, be as creative as you should be, that's a few weeks now where we haven't had that end product."
FT: Aberdeen 1-1 St Johnstone
Aberdeen had seven attempts at goal in drawing with Saints, their lowest total in a single match in the Premiership this season and have now failed to win in their last five league games.
FT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Kyogo Furuhashi's sublime finish means the Japan striker has scored six goals in the Premiership this season - and no Celtic player has more.
FT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Celtic have scored in their last 24 games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 27 from October 2022 to May 2023.
They have also scored in Celtic all 15 of their league games this season - and in each of their last 24 into last season, scoring 71 in total.
Scottish League 2
A goal seven minutes into stoppage time ended East Fife's poor run as they beat Elgin and overtake the visitors back into pole position in the fourth tier.
Third-top Peterhead lost away to Clyde despite coming from two behind to draw level momentarily at 2-2, while Edinburgh's convincing win away to Stirling means they leapfrog the hosts into fourth.
FT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Celtic Park
Hibs simply could not take the glorious chances that came their way. Captain Joe Newell blasted over from inside the penalty spot and scored an own goal. It was that kind of afternoon for the Easter Road men and they've had too many of them for their own liking this season. Which is why they're bottom of the pile.
At the other end, Celtic extend their lead after making five changes. They have bigger fish to fry, with Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday and Rangers in the League Cup final a week tomorrow.
They missed Cameron Carter-Vickers at the heart of the defence, but he'll be back for the next two matches I would suspect.
FT: Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Celtic Park
That's 30 games without defeat for Celtic: 28 wins and two draws since Hearts beat them at Tynecastle in March.
They weren't at their best against Hibs but still scored three and could have had more but for the crossbar denying Luke McCowan and Hibs goalkeeper Jordan Smith pulling off a couple of fine stops.
It's the other keeper who may well walk away with the man of the match award, which will tell you a lot about the amount - and quality - of chances the visitors created.
Three times he foiled one-on-one chances; twice denying Mykola Kuharevich early in the first half, then keeping out Elie Youan in the second. There were other key saves as well.
FT: Dundee United 1-1 Kilmarnock
Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland at Tannadice
Well, the last 20 minutes of that match at Tannadice made up for the previous 70.
Loads of action in the closing stages and Liam Polworth’s deflected shot nine minutes into stoppage time nearly stole all three points for Killie.
The two sides have to be content with sharing the spoils. Sam Dalby’s sixth of the season on the United striker's 25th birthday and Bruce Anderson equalising with the most emphatic of penalties.
Scottish League 1
Stenhousemuir remain two points clear at the top of the third tier after thumping bottom side Dumbarton.
Alloa ended their poor run by beating Kelty to overtake the hosts into second.
Caley Thistle staged a thre-goal fightback to beat hosts Montrose but are eight points adrift of Annan in second bottom.
Lawrence Shankland had gone 70 days without scoring for Hearts
Lawrence Shankland said it had been "a long time coming" after his brace against Dundee ended his goalscoring drought and moved Hearts off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership with their first win in six games.
The Hearts captain had gone 12 games without netting before his first-half double put Neil Critchley's side in a comfortable position.
The first was a pinpoint back-post header, and the second a sclaffed rebound that suggests his luck has finally turned.
The Tynecastle side leapfrog Edinburgh rivals Hibernian to rise up to 11th, while Dundee drop to sixth.
"It's been a frustrating period and you just need to dig in and get through it," Shankland told BBC Scotland. "Mentally, it can be tough at times as a striker.
"I don't think you can put a finger on exactly what it is. In every league, there's strikers who go on runs like that. It's not enjoyable when it happens to you."
The Tynecastle side leapfrog Edinburgh rivals Hibernian to rise up to 11th, while Dundee drop to sixth.
All the pre-match talk was about a first Hearts start for 17-year-old James Wilson, who had already scored two league goals this season.
Perhaps the spotlight shifting off Shankland lifted some pressure and his cushioned, looping header that gave Hearts the lead was the kind of finish he produced last season.
The cross had come from the left and the boot of James Penrice, who set up numerous chances from his flank - teeing up Wilson and Musa Drammeh for first-half opportunities.
Thankfully for them, Shankland was on hand to make it two when Jon McCracken palmed a cross into the middle of the box and the Hearts captain scuffed the rebound in.
Tony Docherty made two changes at half-time, clearly unhappy with the first-half display, but it did little to change the visitors' fortunes and in a duller second half.
There was a moment of comedy when McCracken's clearance cannoned off Antonio Portales and back to Drammeh, who raced through towards an empty net.
However, the flag was up to spare any Dundee blushes.
The drought is over, the floodgates opened, and Shankland finally scored a goal - and then another - in maroon again.
Given his strike-rate in the last two seasons, the last 70 days must have felt like an eternity.
The pressure has told at times, particularly against Cercle Brugge in the Conference League when he missed a late penalty, but now the weight has lifted.
That should, in theory, allow Hearts to rise up the table.
They were up to 10th before Kilmarnock's late leveller at Dundee United. They are just three points off eighth-placed Ross County, with a better goal difference than the teams immediately above them.
Domestically, an away trip to Kilmarnock follows before they host St Johnstone and Hibs, finishing 2024 with a visit to Dingwall.
All are winnable games and Critchley will be targeting at least nine points.
Docherty's side were brilliantly clinical against Motherwell through the week and the manager admitted the changes he made - dropping captain Simon Murray and winger Scott Tiffoney - were purely to bring "energy and freshness".
That didn't work. They rarely troubled Craig Gordon and squandered their best chance - an 87th-minute Portales header that would have set up a tense finale.
Perhaps they didn't expect Shankland to show such a cutting edge given his season so far, but they conceded too many chances and Hearts made them pay.
It was a disappointing showing given the strength they have shown at Dens Park this season and their performances on the road - given they have trips to Ibrox and Paisley this month - must improve.
'One of the lowest nights of my career' - Shankland on bouncing back from goal drought
Hearts boss Neil Critchley: "If we play well, and I can see intensity and aggression and we lose, I won't go for the players. If we win, but I see we can do better, they might see a different side of me.
"Even though we won, second half we could and should have played better. We were comfortable but it only takes one moment and it becomes game on.
"If we'd scored a few more goals second half, we could have made it easier for ourselves."
Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "The overriding feeling is one of frustration, because for whatever reason we weren't at it at all in the first half. I thought we were in the second half when we addressed it.
"Whether Wednesday's exertions [against Motherwell] come into that because Hearts haven't had a game, but some of our decision-making was poor, and sometimes mentally when you're fatigued you make poor decisions."
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 4 | 40 | 43 |
| |
| 2 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 34 |
| |
| 3 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 29 |
| |
| 4 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 24 |
| |
| 5 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 23 | -5 | 22 |
| |
| 6 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 19 |
| |
| 7 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 19 | 26 | -7 | 18 |
| |
| 8 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 15 |
| |
| 9 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 14 |
| |
| 10 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 34 | -17 | 14 |
| |
| 11 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 13 |
| |
| 12 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 28 | -10 | 12 |
|
Manager: Neil Critchley
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Tony Docherty
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Neil Critchley
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Tony Docherty
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Scottish Premiership
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All competitions
All competitions
Hearts have won both of their last two Scottish Premiership home games against Dundee, this after losing two of their previous three beforehand (D1).
Dundee have won three of their last six top-flight league games against Hearts (L3), as many as their previous 14 beforehand (W3 D3 L8).
No side has earned fewer points at home in the Scottish Premiership this season than Heart of Midlothian (6). Hearts have won just one of their last eight home games in the competition (D4 L3).
Dundee have won three of their last five league games (D1 L1), more than they had in their previous 18 (W2 D6 L10). They’re looking to pick up back-to-back league victories for the first time since March.
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland has had more shots than any other player in the Scottish Premiership this season (48). However, he’s found the net with just one of these shots, giving him a conversion rate of just 2%.
