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Rangers falter, Celtic make a winning start and St Johnstone star in seven-goal Scottish Premiership opener
Priya Nambiar | August 5, 2026 4:07 AM CST

The Scottish Premiership season began this weekend, and St Johnstone stole the spotlight by making an ideal return to the top flight with a 4-3 victory over Kilmarnock. Here is a full look at everything that happened on Matchday One.

The Derek McInnes era at Rangers started unconvincingly on Friday night in the league’s opening match, as his team were held to a 1-1 draw at Tannadice. Rangers had to come from behind just to claim a point after Lachlan Rose put the Tangerines ahead before half-time following a defensive mix-up inside the box.

Thelo Aasgaard then stepped up to bring Rangers level early in the second half, but the visitors found it difficult to carve out many clear chances in the final third. Speaking after the match, McInnes admitted his side “didn’t do enough to win.”

St Mirren collected the first three points of the weekend with a 2-0 away win. Killian Phillips put the visitors in front after 11 minutes and then struck again late in the game to seal the result. The Bairns appeared to have found an equaliser in the second half, but it was disallowed after a review. That result sent St Mirren to the top of the table on Saturday afternoon.

This one turned into a thriller, with Aberdeen coming from behind to win thanks to an injury-time brace from Kevin Nisbet. Hearts went ahead in the first half through Oisen McEntee, but Nisbet brought The Dons back into it with a 90th-minute equaliser. Five minutes later, he scored again to complete the turnaround, this time from the penalty spot after an incident that also saw Stuart Findlay sent off.

Hearts will now be looking to respond quickly after suffering what is now their third competitive defeat at the start of the season, following their Champions League qualifying exit against Sturm Graz.

For many, this would have been the match of the weekend because of the sheer number of goals and the drama packed into it. St Johnstone won the Scottish Championship last season, so this was their big return to the top division after a year away, and they certainly announced themselves in style.

They moved in front after 16 minutes through Josh Fowler, before Greg Kiltie equalised to send the two teams into the break level. The second half then burst into life, with three goals arriving in the opening eight minutes. The Saints restored their lead almost immediately when Cheick Diabate headed in at the far post, only for Killie to hit back again two minutes later through Joe Hugill. The visitors then went ahead soon afterwards when Jason Holt, with a slice of misfortune, headed the ball into his own net.

A second own goal arrived in the 69th minute to bring the newly promoted side level again, this time with Kilmarnock’s Michael Schjønning-Larsen turning the ball into his own net. With 10 minutes remaining, Kai Fotheringham scored the winner by turning inside the box and firing precisely into the bottom corner, giving The Saints the comeback to the Premiership they had so badly wanted.

The first half of this match did not produce a single shot on target from either side until the 40th minute, when Motherwell took the lead through Lukas Fadinger. He converted from the penalty spot after Josh Mulligan fouled Oscar Priestman inside the area. Priestman was also central to a penalty decision at the other end, as he brought down Martin Boyle and handed the Hibs forward the chance to equalise from 12 yards, which he took.

There were plenty of chances after that for both teams, but it was ultimately Ibrahim Said who came up with the winning goal for Motherwell. He slotted the ball into the bottom corner to finish off an excellent counterattack and hand his side the ideal start to the season.

Even without looking entirely at their best, the Hoops opened their campaign with a 1-0 win thanks to a second-half winner from Benjamin Nygren. It was a tough evening for the club’s new striker, Kaspar Høgh, who missed three gilt-edged chances to score on his debut. Cameron Carter-Vickers was Celtic’s standout performer, with the centre-back producing an impressive 17 defensive contributions to help keep Dundee out.

Dundee looked reasonably solid throughout but did not create many chances of their own, which is understandable to some extent when playing away at Celtic Park. Even so, they can leave with some encouragement and now turn their attention to next weekend’s meeting with Aberdeen at Dens Park.


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