5 things we learned from this weekend’s cinch Premiership action

Hibernian, Aberdeen and Hearts lead the way in the cinch Premiership after all three followed up opening-day wins with another three points.

Celtic clawed back the three points they lost on Rangers with an emphatic win over Dundee after the champions suffered a shock loss, while Livingston are the only team yet to get off the mark following Motherwell’s late equaliser against St Johnstone.

Here are five other things we learned from the second weekend of the season.

Celtic fans have a new hero

Kyogo Furuhashi netted on his first Hoops start in the midweek win over Jablonec but the Japan forward’s home debut was the stuff of dreams. The striker scored a hat-trick before going off to the acclaim of the home support, who were just as enamoured about his work-rate and defensive efforts as they were about his movement and finishing.

Aberdeen fans are getting excited

Dozens of Dons fans invaded the pitch after they came from behind to win 2-1 at Livingston thanks to Jack MacKenzie’s stoppage-time winner. With another young player, Teddy Jenks, also getting his first goal for the club and Aberdeen in a strong position to reach the Europa Conference League play-offs following their 3-2 win over Breidablik in Iceland, there is much to be excited about for the Red Army in the early stages of the Stephen Glass era.

Hibernian are handling the double demands

A 3-0 win over Ross County sent Hibs top of the table on goal difference after they followed up a European game with a win for the second week running.  Jack Ross and his team now travel to Croatia with confidence with their Europa Conference League fixture with Rijeka firmly in the balance at 1-1.

Hearts are set to be a Premiership force again

Robbie Neilson had challenged his players to follow up their opening win over Celtic when they travelled to face a St Mirren side with their eyes firmly set on a top-six finish. Goals from Liam Boyce and Andy Halliday earned the Jambos their first victory in Paisley since 2012 and put them on half the victories they achieved in the curtailed 2019-20 campaign that ended with their relegation.

Rangers are toiling with crowds back

Steven Gerrard’s side lost their last two home games before the first lockdown before excelling in empty stadiums. But they suffered defeat against Malmo in midweek in the Champions League in front of a Swedish crowd and lost a 40-game unbeaten league run when Jamie Robson’s goal earned Dundee United three points to the delight of more than 5,000 of their fans at Tannadice. Gers now need to use the backing of a full Ibrox against Malmo to their advantage as they chase a 2-1 deficit on Tuesday.