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• 5 things we learned from a rain-soaked weekend of Premiership action

  There were some big storylines on a rain-soaked weekend of cinch Premiership action.

  Celtic’s lead at the top was cut to five points following defeat at Kilmarnock, 24 hours after Rangers beat Dundee 3-1.

  St Mirren and Aberdeen also recorded significant wins to get back on track, while Hibernian moved up to fourth in the table.

  Here, the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

  Brendan Rodgers’ Rugby Park strife continues

  Rodgers suffered his first league defeat of his second spell in charge when Killie came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to Matty Kennedy’s late strike. The Celtic manager suffered his first domestic cup defeat in Scotland at the same venue in August. In two spells at Parkhead, Rodgers has now suffered 10 domestic defeats and four of them have come at Rugby Park.

  Rangers’ absentee list grows

  Ibrox boss Philippe Clement does not have his selection worries to seek ahead of a big week which includes a Europa League decider against Real Betis and the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen. Midfielders Nico Raskin, Ryan Jack and Tom Lawrence and striker Danilo missed the victory over Dundee and midfielder Jose Cifuentes will be suspended for the Hampden clash after being sent off for a challenge on Dundee goalscorer Amadou Bakayoko, although Clement is considering an appeal.

  Late shows saving Stuart Kettlewell

  The Motherwell manager might have been facing serious questions over his future had Mika Biereth not headed a stoppage-time equaliser against St Johnstone. It was a 13th game without a win but the Steelmen were well worth the draw and Kettlewell will surely live to fight another day. It is increasingly clear how important the late goals are though – six of Motherwell’s 15 points have come from 90th-minute goals and a further two points from an 85th-minute goal.

  Livingston are in freefall

  David Martindale’s side suffered a seventh-consecutive loss when Martin Boyle hit the only goal for Hibernian. The run is a long way short of Livingston’s 13-game losing streak on their way to relegation from the top flight in 2006 but they have now slipped five points adrift. St Johnstone survived the past two seasons after eight and then six-game losing runs and Martindale retains belief his side can similarly bounce back.

  VAR’s scope again comes into question

  Dundee manager Tony Docherty felt the video assistants should not have advised a penalty review and presented referee Kevin Clancy with only a partial picture of a shirt pull on Rangers striker Abdallah Sima. Docherty said: “The image presented to Kevin Clancy favours the penalty being given but the reality is, there is bustling in the box, Sima has hold of Aaron Donnelly’s shirt and Kevin Clancy deemed that to be OK. It’s difficult because we are re-refereeing games. Kevin Clancy’s positioning is good and it’s not a clear and obvious error. My problem with it is the image he gets shown. If I see that image I’d give a penalty-kick but you need to take it into context.” Rangers took the lead from the spot and have now been awarded eight penalties in their last nine Premiership games, several of them for shirt pulls which have been highlighted by VAR officials.

• Brendan Rodgers: Celtic too negative in their passing during loss at Kilmarnock

  Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted his side were too negative in their passing in the second half at Rugby Park after Kilmarnock came from behind to win 2-1.

  Matt O’Riley netted from close range to earn Celtic a deserved half-time lead but Killie had missed two excellent chances and they created plenty more opportunities after the interval.

  They were eventually rewarded when Nat Phillips converted Brad Lyons’ cross into his own net in the 75th minute and the home side took further confidence before Matty Kennedy finished off a counter-attack with three minutes left.

  Rodgers said: “I thought in the first half we were very good. We played at a good speed and created opportunities. We could have maybe have been more than 1-0 up by half-time.

  “But in the second half we never got started. You expect a wee bit of pressure for 10 or 15 minutes, which we weathered at set-pieces and corners. But we never passed the ball.

  “We were under a bit more pressure, sure, but you have to be resistant to that pressure. We weren’t able to make passes to take us up the pitch and that was the biggest disappointment of the second half. We couldn’t sustain any attacking threat in the game.

  “When you play Kilmarnock it’s quite a direct game so you have to be able to win the first, second and third balls. But we didn’t do that.”

  Rodgers was angrier than he had ever been as a manager when his side trailed against St Johnstone at half-time seven days earlier before coming back to win. But he was more measured in his response after a first cinch Premiership defeat of the season.

  “The players know themselves,” Rodgers said. “We spoke after the game about how this isn’t how we want to do.

  “In the second half we played their game instead of playing our game. I thought we got rid of the ball in the second half instead of passing it. And there is a big difference.

  “We ended up being too negative in our passing. If you play a team that’s pressing and right up against you there, you’ve got to pass the ball forward. Because that forward pass eliminates pressure. And we weren’t able, for some reason, to do that.”

  Rodgers has now lost 10 domestic games over two spells as Celtic manager and four of them have been at Rugby Park.

  “I thought the pitch was all right for an AstroTurf surface,” he said. “When you get rain, it makes it slick, and it was actually good, but in the British game you have to have that adaptability.”

  Killie manager Derek McInnes had harsh words for his players at half-time in a bid to get them to the levels they showed when beating Celtic in the Viaplay Cup in August.

  “I had to give the players a wee reminder of the team that we need to be, particularly at Rugby Park, the team we needed to be against Celtic,” he said.

  “Celtic came and dominated the ball and dictated the play. They were almost playing with us really, with the ball. They were just kind of coaxing us into mistakes.

  “Even when we got the ball we looked unsure of ourselves.

  “We had to be braver, we had to take a step forward and I thought Stuart Findlay was immense at the back. We had to defend a lot of space behind us and with that comes that element of risk.

  “We had big performances second half when it was the total reverse of the first. It was everything I wanted from my team.

  “I thought we passed up too many opportunities before we did score and thankfully when we did get the goal you could just sniff the victory, you could feel it. More importantly my players felt it and thankfully we got the second goal that I felt we deserved.

  “I’m delighted we managed to turn it round because coming from behind is always difficult when you play against a team like Celtic.”

• Kilmarnock stun Celtic with two late goals

  Matty Kennedy scored a late winner as Kilmarnock inflicted a second defeat on Celtic this season.

  The Hoops started in dominant fashion in Ayrshire as they looked to avenge their Viaplay Cup loss and Matt O’Riley gave them a 33rd-minute lead with his ninth goal of the season from close range.

  However, Killie came very close either side of the goal and they were eventually rewarded for their improvement when Nat Phillips turned Brad Lyons’ cross into his own net in the 75th minute.

  Danny Armstrong then slipped Kennedy through as Killie counter-attacked down the right-hand side and the winger’s effort went in off Joe Hart.

  Brendan Rodgers had suffered his first domestic cup defeat as Celtic manager at Rugby Park in August and the latest loss on the artificial surface was the first cinch Premiership defeat of his second spell in charge. It leaves Celtic five points ahead of Rangers but with one more game played.

  Phillips started after Cameron Carter-Vickers failed to shake off a hamstring concern, but Rodgers otherwise retained the team that began Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Hibernian. That meant starts for Tomoki Iwata, Mikey Johnston and Oh Hyeon-gyu.

  Rodgers had told Johnston he had to “do more” following the midweek game. Johnston had a hand in the first goal and could have had an assist but for Oh’s poor finishing, however the winger’s delivery was erratic during his 70 minutes on the park.

  Lyons and Liam Donnelly brushed off knocks to start for Killie, who were pinned into their defensive third for the first 10 minutes. O’Riley had two shots stopped, Callum McGregor’s low cross just evaded Johnston and Oh had a header saved.

  Celtic continued to create chances. Oh volleyed over after Liam Scales’ ball over the top and the South Korean should have converted Johnston’s low cross before Luis Palma hit the post from a tight angle.

  Killie should also have scored from their first chance. Lyons’ cross found Armstrong at the back post but the winger hit the junction of post and bar from six yards.

  Celtic were ahead within a minute. McGregor took three players out the game when he turned on to his right foot 20 yards out and forced Will Dennis down to his left with a shot. The goalkeeper could only parry and O’Riley was on hand to convert the rebound.

  The action continued as Celtic survived a double chance moments later. Hart got down well to deny Armstrong and Alistair Johnston threw himself at Corrie Ndaba’s follow-up to block what looked a certain goal.

  The opening stages of the second half were as one-sided as the first but this time in the home team’s favour. Hart denied Ndaba and Robbie Deas headed just wide amid sustained aerial pressure before the Celtic goalkeeper got down to clutch Armstrong’s curling effort.

  O’Riley and Palma threatened after Celtic counter-attacks as the incessant rain got heavier and Kilmarnock appeared to have lost their cutting edge but they took a major lift from the equaliser.

  Stuart Findlay had an effort saved after another ball into the box and substitute Marley Watkins scooped just over from a better chance, before Kennedy found the net in the 87th minute.

  Celtic brought on Kyogo Furuhashi and Dennis pulled off an excellent stop from the Japan striker 90 seconds after Kennedy’s goal.

  The home fans howled with derision when the fourth official signalled there would be eight minutes of stoppage time but Killie comfortably saw them out.