Jordan White scored a poacher’s hat-trick as Ross County beat Dundee United 3-1 in their relegation showdown at Tannadice to climb off the bottom of the cinch Premiership and leave their hosts two points adrift at the foot of the table.
A large and expectant home support had turned out to try and roar their team towards safety while also celebrating the 40th anniversary of their club’s only top-flight title win in 1983.
But they endured a demoralising afternoon in the Tayside sunshine as striker White scored in the opening minute and then struck another two in the second half after Jamie McGrath had levelled things up with a penalty midway through the first half.
United boss Jim Goodwin made two changes to the side that started the previous weekend’s defeat at St Johnstone as Kieran Freeman and the suspended Charlie Mulgrew made way for Ryan Edwards and 17-year-old striker Rory MacLeod.
There were also two tweaks to the County line-up from their victory over Livingston as Josh Sims and Alex Samuel came in for Keith Watson and Simon Murray.
On a day when United honoured one of the most revered teams in their history, the spirit of 1983 was sadly lacking as they fell behind after just 38 seconds when White nodded over the line from close range after Jack Baldwin headed George Harmon’s corner back across the six-yard box.
The Tayside outfit had a great chance to get back in the game in the 13th minute when centre-back Loick Ayina surged out of defence to latch on to an Ian Harkes through ball and drove into the box, only to blaze his shot over the bar from 15 yards out.
After their slack start, United had cranked up the pressure and they got themselves level in the 23rd minute when, following a VAR intervention, County winger Sims was deemed to have handled Aziz Behich’s cross in the box and McGrath kept his cool to slot home the penalty.
The home support were revelling in the way their team had fought their way back into the match and MacLeod and Craig Sibbald both tested Ross Laidlaw with shots from the edge of the box as United finished the first half strongly.
They went desperately close in the 50th minute when Fletcher’s shot from inside the box was deflected just wide after MacLeod hooked Ilmari Niskanen’s cross down into his path.
Having enjoyed such a lengthy period of pressure, however, the Tannadice side then completely lost their way.
They were fortunate not to concede in the 55th minute when Mark Birighitti made a superb save after Sims nicked the ball off Ayina in the box and got a shot away.
But there was no reprieve for United in the 57th minute when White beat Scott McMann to the ball and clipped beyond Birighitti from close range after Nohan Kenneh’s cross-shot from the right came across the face of goal.
And County seized full control in the 72nd minute when David Cancola released substitute Simon Murray down the left and his cross was knocked over the line at the back post by White.
Rodgers salutes Celtic's 'Champions League mentality' in St. Johnstone rout
Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Celtic's "Champions League mentality" in their 6-0 rout of St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice, while Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah were also on target for the Hoops, who warmed up for their midweek European trip to Borussia Dortmund in emphatic fashion.
The dominant victory moved Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table - ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference - as they continued their perfect start to the season, with a sixth win in as many games.
And Rodgers was pleased by the character his players demonstrated.
"I thought this was an opportunity to show our mentality," he told Premier Sports. "All the noise has been about Dortmund, but I wanted a Champions League mentality here, and I thought the boys controlled the game.
"We wanted to keep our rhythm going. You see some of the guys coming in this evening, like Valle coming in at left-back, showing his composure.
"Most were looking at it as a tick-box before Dortmund, but for me, it was to show their mentality. Everyone will be flying on Tuesday night, but I want to see how they do when they’re here, or other grounds. It’s a case of just focusing in on that.
"I thought the variety of our game was very good; everything you'd want from your team."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's clash with Bundesliga giants Dortmund, he added: "[They] are a good team with top players, so we can't get away from that.
"OK, they've lost one or two [players] from last year, but I always say we make sure we press, make sure we attack. It's a tough game, but we'll look forward to it."
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
St Johnstone 0-6 Celtic: Defending champions continue perfect start
Celtic stormed to the top of the Scottish Premiership with a thumping 6-0 win away at St Johnstone.
The defending champions thought they had taken the lead early on through Daizen Maeda, but VAR intervened due to a foul in the build-up.
Nevertheless, a brace from Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo's sumptuous strike virtually ended the contest at half-time.
There was to be no mercy in the second half though, as captain Callum McGregor added a fourth for Celtic shortly after the restart.
Maeda and substitute Adam Idah added further gloss to the scoreline to make it six league wins out of six for Brendan Rodgers' side so far this campaign and take them top, ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference.
St Johnstone are now just a point above second bottom in the table.
Data Debrief: Defence first
Celtic have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six games in the league.
Their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of seven games from 26 April 2015 to 9 August 2015, so as well as their rampant attack, Rodgers' team have a mean defence, with St Johnston accumulating only 0.29 expected goals (xG) on Saturday.
With two assists in this match, meanwhile, Nicolas Kuhn now has four in total for the season, which is two more than any other player in the Scottish Premiership.
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