Scottish Premiership Wrap: Celtic leapfrog Inverness at top

Celtic top the Scottish Premiership after a 2-0 victory over Motherwell on Saturday, while St Johnstone thrashed Inverness 4-0.

The Scottish champions were second on goal difference heading into this weekend, but goals from Anthony Stokes and Kris Commons against Motherwell helped put daylight between themselves and second-place Inverness.

Stokes broke the deadlock with a left-footed strike after 21 minutes before Commons made sure of the points shortly after the break, lobbing the ball over visiting goalkeeper Lee Hollis at Celtic Park.

The victory maintained Celtic’s unbeaten league start to the season and Neil Lennon’s men have a game in hand over the chasing pack.

Meanwhile, Inverness saw their top-spot tenure come to a shuddering halt as they were convincingly beaten by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Steven May set the ball rolling in the 18th minute with a right-footed strike before a Dave Mackay effort and a Steven MacLean brace subjected the hosts to just their second defeat of the season.

The result ended a run of five league matches without a win for Tommy Wright’s men, lifting them to sixth in the league table.

Elsewhere, Hearts’ dismal campaign continued with a 2-0 loss at home to St Mirren – their fifth consecutive match without a win – leaving them rooted to the bottom of the league.

John McGinn and Paul McGowan found the net as the visitors sealed their first league win of the season to climb to 10th.

Aberdeen suffered a setback as Rocco Quinn fired Ross County to a 1-0 victory at Victoria Park, while Kilmarnock remain winless after Nadir Ciftci’s sensational volley subjected them to a sixth league defeat of the season in a 1-0 win for Dundee United.