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Kieran Tierney scored his first Celtic goal in seven years as the Premiership champions cut the gap on leaders Hearts to seven points with a 4-0 home victory against Kilmarnock. The left-back, who scored on his final Arsenal appearance in May, drilled in from 25 yards to double Celtic’s lead six minutes into the second half. It was the 28-year-old’s first Celtic goal since a Europa League win against RB Leipzig on 8 November 2018.
Johnny Kenny had opened the scoring in the 10th minute with his fourth goal in four matches under the interim management team of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney. Daizen Maeda missed several good chances for Celtic and Kilmarnock hit the crossbar through Bruce Anderson before Tierney struck. The home side struggled to build on the cushion but late goals from Maeda and Arne Engels, from the spot, added a flattering sheen to the scoreline.
O’Neill has stated he expects Celtic to make progress on their search for a permanent successor to Brendan Rodgers during this international break, but he remains in the dark. After the victory he said: “I should imagine at some stage or another during the course of the next week that somebody will let me know what’s happening.”
When asked if he would consider an extended stay, the 73-year-old said: “I really don’t know. I was going to say, it’s a young man’s game, and I’m almost talking myself out of this here. But it’s been tough. All the things that I kind of thought I knew about it have come to sort of fruition. You know, about the strength of the side, or what I thought I saw from a distance.”
Luca Stephenson equalised just before half-time as Hearts were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Dundee United. The leaders, who started the day nine points clear at the top, went in front in the 25th minute when Alexandros Kyziridis’ shot rebounded from a post and ricocheted over the line off United keeper Yevheni Kucherenko. But Stephenson headed the visitors level, and the home side – unable to break them down after the break – were forced to settle for a second draw in three matches.
The Hearts manager, Derek McInnes, said the draw felt like a defeat, although he conceded his team did not warrant anything more. “I thought we didn’t deserve any more than the point we got,” he said. “It’s difficult to be too critical of the fact that we’re 12 games in, we’ve hit 30 points already, we’re in the second week of November and we’re still unbeaten.
“But there’s no doubting that we came here with high expectations to get three points and I’ve got to accept that we weren’t good enough to get the three points today.”
Saturday roundup: VAR pain for St Mirren in Hibs defeat
ShowSt Mirren manager Stephen Robinson expressed doubts over the accuracy of VAR after seeing two more goals disallowed for offside in their 3-0 defeat by Hibernian.
Saints had seen two goals disallowed for offside in their three previous Scottish Premiership matches, as well as losing two players to red cards after VAR reviews. On Saturday, marginal calls denied Marcus Fraser an early headed opener and prevented Dan Nlundulu claiming an equaliser early in the second half.
Robinson said: 'We equalise, we go in front, it changes the game completely, so whether they're onside or not, you hope VAR's got it right. Which would be a surprise to be fair.' The St Mirren manager did accept that the visitors 'deserved to win' after goals from Josh Mulligan, Chris Cadden and Miguel Chaiwa.
There was more VAR controversy as bottom club Livingston earned a draw at Falkirk. Livi captain Danny Wilson's late header earned the visitors a point, but manager David Martindale was unhappy that his side conceded a penalty.
Calvin Miller's corner struck the elbow of Livingston striker Stevie May after quarter of an hour, with referee Grant Irvine awarding the spot-kick after checking the pitchside monitor. Brian Graham smashed home the penalty to put fifth-placed Falkirk in front.
'I think it's really harsh,' Martindale said. 'The referee doesn't think it's a penalty and it goes to VAR. He gives the penalty, so I felt a bit hard done by then.' PA Media
The new Rangers manager, Danny Röhl, enjoyed a third successive Premiership victory with the 3-0 win at Dundee moving them to within 12 points of Hearts with a game in hand. Nico Raskin headed home a ninth-minute corner and the lead was doubled by Mikey Moore’s first goal since joining on loan from Tottenham. Djeidi Gassama curled home the third in the 90th minute.
Röhl took the acclaim of the Rangers fans after the game and responded in kind, saying: “I try to always have a good relationship with our fans. Respect for them, they travel everywhere. I see a lot of togetherness more and more. It is good. I have great support from my staff and my coaches, and the players are listening and if we can bring this together with our fans then we are all going in one direction and we can build something here.”
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Aberdeen and Motherwell battled to a share of the spoils with a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie as the home continued to climb the table. Motherwell enjoyed the better of the possession but fell behind to Jesper Karlsson’s superb 25-yard strike in the 61st minute, before levelling almost immediately through Elijah Just.
The Aberdeen manager, Jimmy Thelin, praised goalscorer Karlsson after the match. “Jesper has this ability to find his teammates and from set-plays, and of course when he gets the opportunity to shoot he is always dangerous.”
Thelin’s Motherwell counterpart, Jens Berthel Askou, conceded a draw was a fair result. “When you look at the statistics, the draw is fair. We tried to dominate and drive the game forward from start to finish. We are disappointed that we weren’t able to produce more big chances and moments where we could have tipped the game into our hands.”
