Celtic chase record and Davidson departs – 5 things from Scottish Premiership

Celtic moved one step closer to the title but the race for top six and cinch Premiership safety grew even more intriguing.

A 4-1 win at Kilmarnock saw Celtic restore their 12-point lead but circumstances are much tighter further down the table.

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

Celtic continue to hit new heights

There was no let-up from the champions after opening a 12-point lead over Rangers with derby victory the previous weekend. Four goals inside 27 minutes sent Ange Postecoglou’s side on their way to a 4-1 triumph at Rugby Park and a new landmark. Daizen Maeda’s header, which put Celtic two up, was their 100th league goal of the season. They will surpass last season’s 93-point total if they beat Motherwell next weekend and remain on course to rival the 106-point mark set by Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles in 2017.

Top-six race goes down to the wire

Three teams are chasing two remaining top-six places with one game to go. St Mirren lead the way and, barring an avalanche of goals from Livingston, will qualify with a point at home to a Kilmarnock side who have not won on the road in the league. Hibernian’s fate is in their own hands after their 1-0 Edinburgh derby win but anything less than victory over St Johnstone could leave them vulnerable. Livi need to win at Tannadice and hope that Hibs fail to win and/or St Mirren lose.

Callum Davidson’s cup credit runs out

The former Scotland international cemented his status as St Johnstone hero when he led his first club to a cup double in 2021. That success helped him survive a 10-match losing run last season and he eventually led Saints to safety via the play-offs. A seven-game losing streak followed earlier this season but the prospect of another relegation battle provoked change after a third consecutive defeat and a run of two points from a possible 18. Davidson lost his job less than 24 hours after a 2-0 defeat at Livingston in a decision described as mutual. Saints are five points off the bottom and four clear of the play-off place after Dundee United’s win over Motherwell moved them out of the danger zone.

Michael Beale raises Rangers ‘horror show’ concerns

Rangers emerged from an incident-packed game against St Mirren at Ibrox with a 5-2 win but Beale left his side in no doubts that it still was not good enough. After losing two sloppy goals in the 3-2 defeat at Celtic, the Light Blues defence was again caught napping to allow Mark O’Hara to twice level. Beale called it “horror show” defending which he believes needs to be eradicated and soon, as the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic looms.

Hearts fall flat

The Tynecastle board were looking for a bounce after sacking Robbie Neilson and handing Steven Naismith the reins but the spectacular unravelling of their season continued. As they bounded out of Easter Road in January celebrating a 3-0 Scottish Cup win, nobody could have envisaged the grim state they would find themselves in at the end of their following visit to the home of their city rivals less than three months later. The Jambos slipped to a sixth consecutive defeat that left them five points adrift of an Aberdeen side who trailed them by 10 points in February. Having once seemed well on course for a second third-place finish in successive seasons, the confidence-shorn Edinburgh side are now scrambling to ensure they do not get overtaken by the teams below them in the battle for European places.