Rangers disappoint, Celtic start strong and a seven goal thriller – Scottish Premiership opening weekend review | OneFootball

The Scottish Premiership season got underway this weekend, with St. Johnstone making headlines as they got off to the perfect start with a 4-3 win over Kilmarnock upon their return to the top flight. So let’s take a look at all the action from Matchday One.

Dundee United 1-1 Rangers

The Derek McInnes era at Rangers got off to a shaky start on Friday night in the league’s opening fixture, when his side drew 1-1 at Tannadice. Rangers had to come from behind to rescue a point after Lachlan Rose gave the Tangerines the lead before half-time following a defensive mix-up in the box.

It was Thelo Aasgaard who stepped up to level the score early in the second 45; however, Rangers struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities for themselves in the final third. McInnes stated in his post-match press conference that his side “didn’t do enough to win.”

Falkirk 0-2 St.Mirren

St.Mirren picked up the first three points of the weekend with a 2-0 win on the road. Killian Phillips gave the visitors the lead after 11 minutes and was on hand again to add the second in the closing stages of the match. The Bairns looked to have equalised in the second half; however, it was ruled out following review. That meant that St.Mirren went top of the table on Saturday afternoon.

Aberdeen 2-1 Hearts

This game was a thriller, with Aberdeen coming from behind to win thanks to an injury-time brace from Kevin Nisbet. Hearts’ Oisen McEntee gave his side the lead in the first half before a 90th-minute equaliser from Nisbet got The Dons back in the game. Five minutes later, he found the net again to win it, this time converting a penalty that saw Stuart Findlay sent off.

Hearts will hope to bounce back quickly from what has now been three competitive defeats at the start of this season, following their exit from the Champions League qualifiers at the hands of Sturm Graz.

St. Johnstone 4-3 Kilmarnock

This will have been the game of the weekend in many people’s eyes, down to the sheer volume of goals and drama that happened throughout. St. Johnstone won the Scottish Championship last season, meaning this was their grand return to the top flight after a year away, and my word did they make a splash.

They took the lead after 16 minutes through Josh Fowler, before a Greg Kiltie equaliser saw the sides head in level at half-time. The second half is where things really kicked into gear though, with three goals happening inside the first eight minutes of it. The Saints regained their lead almost immediately when Cheick Diabate headed home at the far post, before once again being pegged back by Killie just two minutes later; this time it was Joe Hugill who found the net. The visitors then took the lead shortly after when a slice of bad luck for Jason Holt saw him head the ball into his own net.

Another own goal would follow in the 69th minute to equalise for the newly promoted side; this time it was Kilmarnock’s Michael Schjønning-Larsen who turned the ball home. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Kai Fotheringham netted the winner when he turned inside the area before firing perfectly into the bottom corner and giving The Saints the return they so desperately craved.

Hibernian 1-2 Motherwell

The first half of this one failed to see either side register a shot on target until the 40th minute, when Motherwell took the lead thanks to Lukas Fadinger, who converted from the penalty spot after Josh Mulligan fouled Oscar Priestman in the area. Priestman was at the heart of a penalty decision at the other end too, when he fouled Martin Boyle and gifted the Hibs forward a chance to equalise from 12 yards, which he duly took.

Plenty of chances followed for both sides; however, it was ultimately Ibrahim Said who popped up with the winning goal for Motherwell, slotting the ball into the bottom corner to round off a superb counterattack and get his side off to the perfect start this season.

Celtic 1-0 Dundee FC

Despite not necessarily looking at their best, the Hoops managed a 1-0 win to kick off their campaign thanks to a second-half winner from Benjamin Nygren. It was a difficult night for the club’s new striker, Kaspar Høgh, who missed three golden opportunities to find the net on his debut. Cameron Carter-Vickers was the standout performer for Celtic, with the centre-half amassing a whopping 17 defensive contributions to help keep Dundee at bay.

Dundee looked relatively steady throughout, but failed to create all that many chances for themselves, which to some degree is to be expected when travelling to Celtic Park. However, they will leave with their heads held high and looking towards next weekend’s clash with Aberdeen at Dens Park.