The cinch Premiership season took an unexpected turn as Celtic suffered a shock defeat to St Mirren.
The champions had only conceded once in the league this season before losing 2-0 at Paisley to allow Rangers to close the gap to two points.
Elsewhere there were wins for Hibernian, Hearts and Livingston while St Johnstone and Ross County were scoreless in Perth.
Here are five things we learned from the weekend’s action.
The Celts are not invincible
The champions were one day away from going a full year unbeaten in the league but goals from Mark O’Hara and Jonah Ayunga gave St Mirren a deserved win at Paisley. Ange Postecoglou made six changes to his squad and may have discovered that his squad depth was not as strong as he thought, although St Mirren’s tenacious display never allowed Celtic to s ‘install. The Hoops’ first league loss since falling to Livingston on September 19 last year showed it may not have been a procession to the title for the league leaders.
Stephen Robinson makes his mark with St Mirren
It took some time for St Mirren players to adapt to the former Motherwell manager’s methods and recover from the blow of losing Jim Goodwin to Aberdeen last season. And although the Buddies ended the 2021/22 campaign with strong results, they crashed out in the Premier Sports Cup group stages after defeats to Arbroath and Airdrie, before losing to Motherwell and Aberdeen in their first two league games. They now sit fourth in the standings after four wins in five matches.
Motherwell needs to start taking a chance
The Steelmen somehow managed to lose 3-0 at home to Hearts after being disallowed a goal for offside and hitting the post three times, with Paul McGinn doing it from three yards out. Motherwell had 25 shots on goal but tied for the second game in a row. They managed 21 shots against Dundee United in their previous game, including a penalty, and drew 0-0.
Ryan Porteous has fallen under another opposition coach
A big win for the Hibees 💪— Hibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC) September 17, 2022
The Hibernian centre-back had several run-ins with Steven Gerrard during the former England captain’s time in charge of Rangers and now he has incurred the wrath of Goodwin. The Aberdeen manager has accused Porteous of ‘blatant cheating’ after winning a penalty following an entanglement with Liam Scales which saw the Dons defender receive a second yellow card.
Antonio Colak continues to produce the goods
The Rangers forward netted a brace in a 2-1 win over Dundee United after being left out in favor of Alfredo Morelos for the Champions League game against Napoli on Wednesday night. The 29-year-old Croatian has now scored five of Rangers’ last seven goals in six appearances.
