Neil Lennon said Celtic deserved victory after Albian Ajeti’s late goal saw them overcome Dundee United 1-0 at Tannadice. The visitors increased their tempo after a goalless first half but a well-organised home defence resisted until the 82nd minute when the Switzerland international striker Ajeti, making his league debut after joining from West Ham, finished from 12 yards.
The Celtic manager Lennon said: “We got our just rewards, it was a great performance and great win. The only disappointing thing is the scoreline – we should have won the game very comfortably. So you have to credit Dundee United or (Benjamin) Siegrist in goal who made a couple of great saves. We were a little bit loose in the final third but the performance was really good … I don’t think we’re hitting top form just yet … We deserved even better out of the game but we’ll take the win.”
Ajeti said: “I am very happy. It was very important to get the three points here … I know the keeper from Switzerland, he is a friend of mine, but today we were opponents and I am happy I could get the winning goal.”
Elsewhere, Kemar Roofe’s first goal for Rangers set up a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock. There was no sign at Ibrox of Lille target Alfredo Morelos, who reportedly asked to be left out of the squad amid continuing speculation over his future. The Rangers manager, Steven Gerrard, had admitted on Friday that the Colombian was not “looking himself” after a £16m offer from the Ligue 1 side was rejected, but will have been delighted to see Roofe, recently signed from Anderlecht, get off the mark.
The former Leeds forward steered home a Borna Barisic cross in the 50th minute as Rangers improved on last weekend’s goalless draw with Livingston. However, a bizarre kit blunder meant that he celebrated his first strike for the club with his name misspelled as “Roffe” on the back of his shirt.
This was another workmanlike display but at least there were no late nerves as Ryan Kent’s third goal of the season sealed victory with 13 minutes left. The win lifts Rangers three points clear of Hibs, who play St Johnstone today, at the top of the table.
Hamilton, meanwhile, secured their first victory of the campaign as Hakeem Odoffin notched a dramatic late winner in the Lanarkshire derby against Motherwell. Hamilton had suffered three successive defeats to start their season but they brought that losing run to a halt with a 1-0 victory over their local rivals to haul themselves off the foot of the table.
Odoffin, a new recruit from Livingston, scored his first goal for the club as he powered home an 86th-minute winner.
Motherwell are still striving for their first league win of the new season and were unable to break down Hamilton’s resolute defence, with goalkeeper Ryan Fulton pulling off some impressive stops to deny David Turnbull.
Ross County continued their promising start to the season as they came from behind to draw 1-1 at St Mirren. Jon Obika gave the home team a 14th-minute lead before Joe Shaughnessy was sent off midway through the second period for a foul on Ross Stewart. County made their numerical advantage count as Michael Gardyne’s shot deflected off Nathan Sheron with 20 minutes to go to earn a point.