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

It was a weekend for narrow wins in the cinch Premiership.

Celtic, Livingston, Aberdeen and Ross County all recorded one-goal victories while Rangers won by two but were pushed by Hearts. Elsewhere, St Mirren and Hibernian drew 1-1.

Here are five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Celtic cope without a striker

David Turnbull started up front against former club Motherwell amid an absence of any natural centre-forwards, with Tom Rogic given instructions to support. The visitors provided a stern first-half test but Turnbull and Rogic made the difference with an inventive free-kick routine that was converted by the Australian. There was a further attacking injury blow when James Forrest went off but Celtic were delighted to get through the first of what could be several games without a recognised striker.

It never rains but it pours for St Johnstone

Frustrated Saints boss Callum Davidson was left bemoaning Aberdeen’s controversial winner at McDiarmid Park which left the Perth club bottom of the table. Dons substitute Teddy Jenks used an arm to control the ball in the 83rd minute before drilling a shot low past keeper Zander Clark for a 1-0 win and Davidson cited previous similar incidents this season as part-mitigation for his side’s plight.

Dundee United’s well is running dry

Tam Courts’ side suffered a third consecutive defeat when they went down to Ayo Obileye’s penalty against Livingston and have now won just once in eight matches. The United head coach pointed out their dip in form coincided with them “going to the well with a lot of the same players” and they suffered a pre-match injury blow when Dylan Levitt aggravated a knee injury in the warm-up.

Nobody can foresee the timing of Hibernian’s appointment

The club stated David Gray would remain in caretaker charge for the “foreseeable future” on Thursday after sacking Jack Ross but the former skipper admitted he had no idea whether he would get a second match following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with St Mirren. With a home game against Dundee on Tuesday followed by the Premier Sports Cup final next Sunday, Gray said: “I have no idea if I’ll still be in charge for Hampden. The foreseeable future to me is until someone tells me to do something different.”

Rangers make the “perfect” start

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst delivered high praise after his side continued their winning start to his reign at Tynecastle. Goals from Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo inside the first 13 minutes proved to be the end of the scoring, although Hearts hit the woodwork twice and had a strong penalty claim denied. “We did perfectly in the first 15 minutes, which gave us confidence,” Van Bronckhorst told Sky Sports afterwards.