Scottish Premiership Review: Celtic made to wait by Aberdeen

Celtic are all but assured of winning the Scottish Premiership after their 3-1 win over Hearts at Tynecastle.

Colin Kazim-Richards opened the scoring for the leaders but Abiola Dauda slammed home past Craig Gordon early in the second half to draw the home side level.

Patrick Roberts restored Celtic’s lead after being gifted the ball by some slack Hearts defending, and Leigh Griffiths charged down a clearance from John Souttar before surging into the area and drilling in a third to secure the win.

Aberdeen ensured the champagne must remain on ice for another week, however,
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after a commanding 4-1 win at home to Motherwell kept them nine points behind with three games to play.

The Dons are also 35 short of matching Celtic’s goal difference, but they did their utmost to keep the title race alive as Kenny McLean’s early penalty and Niall McGinn’s fine volley put them 2-0 up midway through the first half.

Adam Rooney marked his return from injury with his 20th goal of the season, and although Motherwell pulled one back as Ash Taylor deflected Chris Cadden’s shot in, Jonny Hayes’ superb solo effort sealed the victory before Keith Lasley was sent off late on.

Kilmarnock moved to within four points of Hamilton Academical with a thumping 4-0 win at New Douglas Park, giving their hopes of avoiding the relegation play-off a huge boost in the process.

Greg Kiltie scored twice before Kris Boyd converted a penalty and Josh Magennis squeezed in a low shot with 13 minutes to play to cap what could be a vital win for Kilmarnock.

St Johnstone climbed to fourth with a 1-0 win away to Ross County, courtesy of Steven MacLean’s second-half tap-in, while Inverness Caledonian Thistle thrashed Partick Thistle 4-1.