Hearts Vs Falkirk: Chesnokov strike and a Motherwell downpour headline Premiership day
Hearts Vs Falkirk produced a narrow 1-0 win for the leaders at Tynecastle, while Motherwell thrashed St Mirren 5-0 in a downpour in Paisley — results that reshaped the weekend top-end picture and filled the scoresheet across the day.
Chesnokov’s opener keeps Hearts rolling
Hearts got their title push back on track with a 1-0 win over Falkirk at Tynecastle. The Jambos, who had been beaten 4-2 at rivals Rangers last weekend, broke the deadlock just before half-time when January signing Islam Chesnokov lashed home his first goal for the club. Hearts held out to move five points clear at the top and also five points clear of Rangers, who travel to bottom side Livingston on Sunday.
Falcons of the south: Motherwell rout St Mirren in Paisley
In Paisley a downpour accompanied Motherwell’s flood of goals as they ran out 5-0 winners at St Mirren. Elijah Just fired Motherwell into an early lead, Tawanda Maswanhise added a penalty, and Ibrahim Said made it 3-0 soon after the restart. St Mirren were reduced to 10 men when defender Richard King was shown a red card in the 52nd minute after a clash with Callum Slattery.
Emmanuel Longelo made it 4-0 on the hour after a VAR review overturned an offside flag, and substitute Eythor Bjørgolfsson scored his first Motherwell goal in the 65th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick. The performance kept Motherwell’s fairytale season on course: they have now kept 12 clean sheets and conceded just three goals in their last 15 league games, have lost only three league fixtures, and are unbeaten in their latest four visits to SMiSA Stadium — all without conceding — with just one defeat in their last 12 league visits.
Manager and pundit reaction from Paisley
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou said before kick-off that “we still have that little bit of feeling of revenge” after they were beaten 4-1 by St Mirren in the League Cup semi-final earlier this season. Former Hibernian and Dundee United midfielder John Rankin, speaking on Sportsound, said: “That type of performance can really kick you on. ”
Dundee fight back at Aberdeen; disciplinary swings in other matches
Ethan Hamilton’s late goal gave Dundee a 3-2 win at 10-man Aberdeen. Aberdeen had taken the lead after 13 minutes when Kevin Nisbet’s shot was fumbled by Dundee keeper Jon McCracken and looked to have gone over the line before Toyosi Olusanya knocked in the rebound. Liam Morrison was sent off just before half-time after he hauled down Tony Yogane in the box; after a lengthy VAR review Morrison was shown a red card and Simon Murray scored from the penalty spot. Dundee then went ahead just before the break when Joel Cotterill’s shot was spilled by Per Kristian Bråtveit. Aberdeen pulled level in the 68th minute through a 25-yard free-kick from Nisbet, but Dundee snatched a late winner with six minutes left when Hamilton lashed his shot into the top corner.
Kilmarnock salvage a late point at Dundee United
Kilmarnock snatched a stoppage-time equaliser to draw 1-1 at Dundee United. Panutche Camará’s early shot hit the bar and Amar Fatah had an early penalty saved, but Fatah scored in the 74th minute by curling the ball in off a post. David Watson then headed a stoppage-time leveller, and Jack Thomson was shown a red card for hauling back Fatah as he sprinted clear.
Broadcast notes, unavailable pages and what’s next
You can catch up with the highlights on Sportscene on One Scotland at 22: 25. The Sky Sports live blog for the Hearts 1-0 Falkirk match was unavailable at the time of publication and displayed the message: “Sorry, this blog is currently unavailable. Please try again later. ”
Rangers head to Livingston on Sunday, while Celtic will host Hibernian. Join the ongoing Premiership coverage tomorrow for more live action and look out for manager reaction from Paisley on the St Mirren and Motherwell club pages.
