I think its the first time Ive seen what happened at the weekend in the SPL. Six teams winning isn't strange , but them all winning and keeping a clean sheet. Im not sure that has been done before???. This week in Scotland's top flight there were alot of goals , 18 in 6 games , not bad when you think that six teams failed to score. Here's how the weekend unfolded....
The live ESPN game at lunchtime on Saturday got us kicked off as Hamilton welcomed Hearts to New Douglas Park. Hamilton were hoping to get over their 4-0 thrashing away to Aberdeen last week whilst Hearts were hoping also to get their first win of the season after dropping point at home vs 10 men St Johnstone. It only took 6 minutes for the welcome mat to be removed by Hamilton as Callum Elliot curled in a fine effort. Things went from bad to worse as Simon Mensing made a mistake that David Tempelman punished to make it 2-0. Hamilton thought they had a lifeline in the 2nd half as Ruben Palazuelos was shown a second yellow card but Martin Canning restored parity as he was rightly shown a straight red card for a bad lunge at Elliot. Hearts then put the game to bed as sub Kevin Kyle got his first goal for the jam tarts as he put away the penalty after that terrible challenge. Man of the match Elliot then added the 4th when another Hamilton mistake , this time from Kyle Wilkie who set Elliot free and the youngster finished in off the post from 16 yards. It was a day to forget for Hamilton and already they look like relegation fodder.
Saturday's other game was between last week's high scorers Aberdeen who took an impressive red army of 3200 fans to Perth to take on St Johnstone. The match was decided when Aberdeen sub Darren Mackie sclafed a Sone Aluko cross into the net. Before hand it looked like this game was heading for a 0-0 draw as chances were at a premium. The goal 5 minutes from time maintains Aberdeen's 100% record and condemns St Johnstone to only 1 point from their opening 2 games. A point each would probably been a fair result and it is a bit hard on St Johnstone but Dons manager will be hoping his luck has changed as these were the games that Aberdeen were losing last season.
Big match of the weekend was Sunday's live SKY game between Hibs and Rangers. Hibs opened their new East Stand but it wasn't a lucky omen as Rangers eventually ran away with this game in the 30 minutes. The first half was something to forget as both teams couldn't put 2 passes together. The only talking points in the first half weren't scoring opportunities but a player feigning injury and 2 red cards. Allan McGregor should hide his head in shame as he tried to get Hibs Striker Riordan sent off as they Scuffled after a late challenge. The Gers Keeper hit the deck holding his head when there was clearly no contact. In 43 minutes the game exploded when Lafferty made a rash challenge on Liam Miller. In the melee Kevin McBride blasted the ball off Lafferty only for himself and the Rangers player to see red. Hibs nearly scored early in the 2nd half and only an amazing last gasp tackle by Madjid Bougherra stopped De Graaf from tapping in. The deadlock was broken in 64 minutes when a deflected Papac shot somehow eventually fell to Beattie after a save from Mark Brown. The Englishman composed himself and found Kenny Miller who blasted home, Rangers then brought on impressive new loan Signing Vladimir Wiess who combined with Papac down the left , squared for Miller and it was 2-0. Miller then got his hat-trick in extra time as he was put through by Davis and blasted the ball in the left hand corner. A good result for Rangers who will be glad to get this early difficult fixture out of the way.
Celtic started as they finished off in Inverness last week as they hammered St Mirren 4-0 gaining revenge for that 4-0 humiliation in what was Tony Mowbray's last game as Celtic manager. Joe Ledley got the scoring underway in the 5th minute after good work from Samaras. The game was then put beyond St Mirren as Celtic doubled their lead on 23 minutes as Shaun Maloney finished at the back post after good work out wide by Brown and Fortune. It should have been 3 on 36 minutes as both Maloney and Fortune struck the frame of the goal. Celtic did get their 3rd on 69 minutes as Fortune again provided an assist as he slipped in youngster Jamie Forrest who hammered the ball high into the net. Goal of the game came in the 81st minute as South Korean Ki blasted home a superb 35 yarder after a short corner from Maloney and McCourt. This game was so one sided but Celtic will face a stiffer test in Holland this week as they will hope to make the Europa League group stage after a very good 2-0 win vs Utrecht on Thursday night. St Mirren boss Danny Lennon knows these are not the games that will determine whether the Saints stay up or go down this season , any result away to the Old Firm will be seen as bonus.
Result of the day has to be at Tannedice where 1st Division Champions thrashed Europa League Hopefuls and Scottish Cup Winners Dundee Utd 4-0. Inverness should have been in front well before they scored as they dominated the lackluster Utd. The breakthrough finally came in the 34th minute as Kevin McCann blasted home from just outside the box after a corner from the impressive Johnny Hayes. The result got worse for Utd when Adam Rooney added a second in 51 minutes after good work from Odhiambo. Inverness then added a third 2 minutes later when the Utd defence went sleeping at a throw in , Russel Duncan took full advantage by blasting the ball past Utd keeper Pernis. Dundee Utd's misery was complete in 81 minutes when Adam Rooney scored from the penalty spot after being hauled down by Kenneth. Great Result for Terry Butcher but where does Utd manager Peter Houston go from here after 1 point from 2 games against 2 teams tipped for a relegation battle.
Europa League bound (hopefully) Motherwell got the result they will need on Thursday if they want to make the Group Stages by beating Kilmarnock 1-0 at Rugby park. Craig Brown rested some of his squad but still had a enough to pip relegation strugglers Kilmarnock in front of a crowd of 5399. The only goal of the game came in the 37th minute when on loan Blackburn striker Nick Blackman finished after Chris Humphrey's cross was headed on by another new signing Esteban Casagolda and the Englishman finishing from 6 yards. Killie came close to stealing a point in the dying seconds as Manny Pascali powered a header towards goal but was denied by fantastic save form new Motherwell keep Randolph. Motherwell will now look forward to their date with destiny whilst Killie will point to 2 decent performances but no points.
Celtic 4 v 0 St Mirren
Dundee Utd 0 v 4 Inverness
Hibs 0 v 3 Rangers
Hamilton 0 v 4 Hearts
Kilmarnock 0 v 1 Motherwell
St Johnstone 0 v 1 Aberdeen
My betting prediction came up again this week , thats 6 out of 6 i think so far this season , Celtic and Falkirk came up trumps for me but it wasnt a big win as both only came in just over 1/2. I will again be picking a few teams out on Tuesday and Wednesday as the CIS League cup 2nd Round takes place.
Aberdeen is making the kind of start that was expected last season , it will certainly keep the fans of Mark McGhee's back but Aberdeen must perform in the CIS cup this week as they take on 2nd Division team Alloa who have been doing well. A slip up here will put the pressure back on McGhee. Rangers will be delighted with the result vs Hibs as it one of the hardest places to go in the SPL and get a result. Hibs are conceding too many goals , it must be a massive concern for John Hughes and i dont think he has any money to fix it. Celtic continue to impress although a tougher game is expected next Sunday vs Motherwell away. Both teams are in form and it should be a cracker. Inverness got the result of the week no doubt , im looking forward to seeing winger Johnny Hayes more , he certainly looks a great find. Hearts have started well and will expect to hammer Elgin in the cup midweek , Jeffries is aiming for a cup this season , play like they did on Saturday and they have a chance. St Mirren , Hamilton and Killie are already stuggling although out of the 3 i still think Killie have the best chance of escaping the relegation dogfight. St Johnstone have had a hard start but showed enough last week vs Hearts to show that they have a decent squad and will be pushing to try and get near that top 6. Dundee Utd look terrible so far , are they still basking in that Scottish Cup success?? , they need to get the finger out as they have a talented team.
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