The latest round of cinch Premiership fixtures kicked off with an Old Firm clash that did not impact the league table but was meaningful nonetheless.
The rest of the games were all significant either in the battle for European places or top-flight survival.
Here are five things we learned from the latest round of action.
Beale gets Celtic monkey off his backAlthough it had no bearing on the title race, Rangers’ 3-0 win over champions Celtic at Ibrox was significant for one person in particular. It was Michael Beale’s first win over the treble-chasing Hoops in five attempts since taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Gers manager last November and was exactly what he needed to alleviate the pressure that was building. The former QPR boss will revamp his squad this summer in an attempt to wrestle the title back to Govan next season.
Celtic come up short in points tally questThe Hoops were also looking to take full points from their final four games to take them on to 107 points, which would have been a record tally, beating the Celtic team of 2017. However, their second league defeat of the season ended those hopes. Manager Ange Postecoglou was perhaps looking more to next season by giving the likes of Alexandro Bernabei and Oh Hyeon-gyu starts at Ibrox, but there were no instant dividends.
When you are on a roll, you get the breaksKevin van Veen became the first Motherwell player to score in eight consecutive top-flight games for 86 years but only after being allowed to take his penalty again when St Johnstone goalkeeper Remi Matthews was punished for edging off his line while saving the initial effort. To give Van Veen his dues, his second – a chipped effort – showed supreme composure. Van Veen’s eight-game roll is the longest run of goalscoring in Scotland’s top flight since Craig Dargo managed the same with Inverness in 2005-06.
The relegation battle gets even more interestingDundee United slumped to the bottom after their second post-split defeat as Ross County leapfrogged them with a 3-1 Tannadice win thanks to Jordan White’s hat-trick. Kilmarnock moved out of the bottom two with a 2-0 win over Livingston and moved two points behind their next opponents, St Johnstone, following their 2-0 defeat by Motherwell. Killie can move further up the table when they host the Perth side next weekend. The bottom two are both away from home – County at Fir Park, while United travel to Livi.
No change in the battle for EuropeThe four teams still vying for European places drew with each other. Third-placed Aberdeen were the biggest winners as the status quo suits them and goalkeeper Kelle Roos saved a penalty from Kevin Nisbet to maintain their five-point advantage over Hearts. St Mirren were the most disappointed after blowing a two-goal lead against the 10-man Jambos to stay sixth.
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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