Celtic moved closer to an eighth consecutive title with a 2-0 win at St Mirren. Striker Timothy Weah headed in the opener after 14 minutes, his effort coming down off the bar and just over the line, before Buddies keeper Vaclav Hladky saved an Olivier Ntcham penalty.
The visitors had been wasteful and also allowed a much-changed side a few chances to draw level but substitute Ryan Christie sealed the win with a deflected shot with five minutes remaining. After Christie’s goal, the bang from a loud firecracker thrown on from one of the stands unsettled Hladky, who required attention. His manager, Oran Kearney, admitted he had been tempted to take his players off the field while Neil Lennon condemned the thrower.
“It serves no purpose in a football ground,” the Celtic manager said. “I don’t see the motivation for anyone to bring a flashbang or pyrotechnic into a stadium. The health and safety of the players and officials is paramount. It didn’t just spook the St Mirren keeper but some of our players too.
“Ryan was also spooked and the goalie might have burst an eardrum. It delays the game when we have scored a goal and want to get going again. It serves no purpose whatsoever. The club have made a real stand in condemning it at times. I don’t understand why people want to do that. There is no logic in it.
“Why does an individual want to bring that to a game? It doesn’t impress anyone, it doesn’t add anything. It just damages people, and it could have damaged a player. It damages the reputation of the good fans we have and we just don’t want it.”
The win kept the Hoops 13 points clear of Rangers with just six fixtures left. The Gers, meanwhile, ended their five-game winless run by defeating Hearts 3-0 at Ibrox. Jermain Defoe and Connor Goldson, the latter with a fine header, put them two up by the first half’s midway point and Scott Arfield scored a third shortly after the break.
The damage from Rangers’ barren streak in league and cup, though, has surely been done. Should Celtic beat Livingston on Saturday and Rangers lose at Motherwell, they will be crowned champions before the league’s split.
Below them, third-placed Kilmarnock’s goalless draw at Hibernian intensified the competition for the best-of-the-rest spot and Europa League football. Goalkeeper Ofir Marciano was the hero for Hibs, who maintained their unbeaten Premiership record under Paul Heckingbottom. The Israel international made a sensational second-half save to deny Jordan Jones, while Kris Boyd, Stuart Findlay and Kirk Broadfoot all came up short against the Easter Road goalkeeper.
Hibs, with 16 points out of a possible 18 under Heckingbottom, were uncharacteristically toothless, only testing Daniel Bachmann through speculative efforts from Stevie Mallan and Daryl Horgan.
Aberdeen went level with Killie on points through a 3-1 win over Motherwell. It was the Dons’ first home win of 2019; a fortunate Max Lowe strike got them off the mark at Pittodrie before Niall McGinn’s second-half double wrapped up the points, meaning Jake Hastie’s first-half strike for the previously in-form visitors was to no avail.
However, arguably the key moment of the game came when Well goalkeeper Mark Gillespie was injured in a clash with Dons striker Sam Cosgrove midway through the second half. Gillespie was stretchered off and, within a couple of minutes, McGinn scored his first goal.
Elsewhere, Livingston won 2-0 at home against Hamilton with goals from Ryan Hardie and captain Craig Halkett, confirming their place in next season’s Premiership in front of just 1,022 fans. Bottom club Dundee lost by the same scoreline at St Johnstone, Callum Hendry and Matty Kennedy the men on target.