Matchday 23 proved to be the most prolific so far, with 23 goals scored across five games. Hearts vs Celtic headlined the card; however, there proved to be many more stories to follow across the board.

The weekend started with the unfortunate news that Dundee United’s welcoming of St Mirren was to be cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. With Stephen Robinson’s side currently without Keanu Baccus, Jonah Ayunga and captain Mark O’Hara though, they won’t be overly disappointed to miss a week of action. In a season where a relegation fight seems likely, every extra day of recovery will be welcomed.

So, on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon, three games began at 3 pm. Aberdeen hosted Livingston, Motherwell welcomed Kilmarnock and Hibs travelled to Falkirk.

Despite falling behind twice, the Dons brushed aside Livingston by six goals to two. It stretched Livingston’s winless league run to 21 games. Simultaneously, second bottom Kilmarnock shipped 4 goals to a high-flying Motherwell. It’s looking increasingly likely that both will remain at the foot of the table and the fight will be for who can assure a play-off spot. Meanwhile, Falkirk made it five wins out of seven with a 4-1 routing of Hibernian. David Gray’s men are now five points behind fourth-placed Motherwell.

On Sunday, Hearts, Rangers and Celtic all took to the field. It was Rangers who would be the biggest gainers, leapfrogging Celtic to second place with a 3-0 home win against Dundee. It ended all square at the capital in an entertaining but messy spectacle.

Now, let’s delve into the five takeaways:

Celtic Midfield Falters In The Capital

Celtic can feel aggrieved at being reduced to ten men for the second time in four days. Auston Trusty was given marching orders in the 77th minute and from there on, it was an onslaught. The decision seemed harsh- with the ball trajecting diagonally right and away from the Celtic goal. Pierre Landry Kabore would have needed to gather control, come inside and beat a covering Liam Scales to get a shot away.

Nevertheless, it was still an incredibly poor performance from the defending champions. In particular, their midfield struggled to dominate the game in the way they have become accustomed to in recent seasons. The usually influential Callum McGregor didn’t show for the ball when the centre-backs had possession. Instead, he pointed to play long. Benjamin Nygren, apart from his free kick, was anonymous. Arne Engels showed physicality off the ball but seemed uncomfortable on it. 

Celtic are injury hit at the back, and light up top, yet with Cammy Devlin and Beni Baningime absent, you feel that it was an area where they could have dominated. Instead, they resorted to a long ball game, which suited the home side. Ultimately, there would have been a sense of relief to leave within six points off the summit.

Maswanhise Shows Why He is So Sought After

Tawanda Maswanhise has had a revolutionary season so far in a Motherwell shirt. His pace, movement, football IQ and finishing mean it’s little surprise he has attracted interest in the January window. The Football Insider reported over the weekend that Rangers have been told that £4 million would be enough to secure his services. Jens Berthel Askou emphatically silenced such rumours soon after, stating, “We are not selling any of our top players this window.”

Yet, with his current goalscoring form, it would be silly to rule anything out. His expertly disposed volley to double the Well’s lead just before half-time marked his fifth straight game on the scoresheet.

He is not the only man excelling in Lanarkshire, with the skillful Elijah Just attracting plaudits. At this point in the season, it’s remarkable to see Motherwell just five points off Celtic. The question becomes, how far can they go this season? Can they break into the title fight? It’s unlikely, however, Berthel Askou’s men are excellently placed for a top-four finish.

Barney Stewart The Hatrick Hero

Barney Stewart scored his first professional hat trick to continue Falkirk’s fairytale campaign. Hibs arrived off the back of five unbeaten league games but were outclassed by the intensity of John McGlynn’s side.

Stewart showed great movement to find himself in the six-yard box to tap home the opener. His second strike capped off a wonderful team goal that was played out from Falkirk’s defence. The 21-year-old wonderfully took a long pass out of the air with a flick around to Calvin Miller before being returned the ball after a longer run to slot home easily. Yet again, his third goal came from a similar situation, as he found himself between the sticks in the six yard box to make it four.

It’s an all-round feel-good story for a player who was representing Heriot-Watt University one and a half years ago and spent the first half of the season on loan at Dunfermline.

Frame Shines in Aberdeen Full Debut

Mitchell Frame was handed his start since signing from Celtic in the Summer for an undisclosed fee. Saturday afternoon turned out to be an afternoon that made you wonder what took so long for a struggling side to make that leap of faith.

His crossing was consistently excellent, with one feeding Kevin Nisbet for the equaliser. Overall, his energy and attacking play were instrumental in an excellent afternoon for the Dons. For a side that has found goals hard to come by, his creativity could prove invaluable.

It’s his shirt to lose.

What’s Next For An Inconsistent Hibs?

It’s been a really stop-and-start season for Hibernian so far. Just as it seemed they had turned a corner with three victorious and two draws in five – including wins against Hearts and Aberdeen – they exited the cup against Dunfermline and followed that up with a dismal showing at the Falkirk Stadium.

While I earlier raved about the movement of Barney Stewart, that is just one side of the coin. The fact that he was able to score so many similar goals makes you question why the Hibee defence couldn’t recognise the pattern.

They have failed to reach the consistency that made them so comfortably the third-best team in the country last season. It doesn’t get any easier, with games against Rangers, Hearts and Celtic in the next five.