This season’s Scottish Premiership, both on and off the pitch, has been an interesting one. Rarely does a week go by without some sort of Covid drama, or another debatable refereeing decision – but that shouldn’t take away from the positive entertainment.
Despite the lack of crowds there have still been plenty of enjoyable domestic matches for fans to watch, join us as we go through our top five of the season so far!
5 – St Mirren 3-2 St Johnstone
The top division’s two Saints put on a five-goal thriller when the sides met just before Christmas.
Level at 1-1 just before the break, Callum Davidson would have been delighted to see Scott Tanser give his side the lead on 44 minutes, however almost immediately in the aftermath defender Jason Kerr was red carded, giving St Mirren a real boost despite being a goal down.
St Johnstone hadn’t lost on the road since September, and were looking a real task to break down going into the final ten minutes of the game. That however was until Jim Goodwin brought on young midfielder Kyle McAllister, who proceeded to first setup Lee Erwin for the equaliser, and then fellow substitute Jon Obika for a dramatic winner, completely turning the game on its head!
The win capped off a successful week for the home side, but we’ll touch more on that later…
4 – Hamilton 3-5 St Johnstone
St Johnstone over the years have carried the reputation of not being easy on the eye. Seemingly though, this season has proved the exact opposite. Not only is their trip to Lanarkshire our second inclusion, but the score meant Saints fans would’ve seen 15 goals in their team’s last two games!
It took top scorer Stevie May under two minutes to get himself on the scoresheet, and by 33 minutes his side were three goals up, with the game at that point looking almost done and dusted.
Accies though refused to give up, Ronan Hughes and Marios Ogkmpoe pulled them back to 3-2 by the break, and a promising start to the second-half had fans hopeful of an equaliser. However Brian Rice’s side have the leakiest defence in the division, so naturally barreling players forward left gaps at the back. Saints soaked up pressure before adding a fourth on the break. Again, you would assume this would put the game to bed.
Credit where credit’s due though Hamilton kept pushing, Hughes got his second to get them within a goals deficit, but the comeback wasn’t to be. Veteran winger Craig Conway finally ended things with a sweet free-kick with eight minutes to play.
Hamilton vs St Johnstone might not have showcased the league’s greatest defending (or goalkeeping) – but for sheer entertainment, this game was top class!
3rd – Celtic 3-3 Hearts (4-3 Pens)
Notice how we used the phrase ‘domestic matches’ earlier, there’s been so much action in the cups it’d be unfair to limit this to just league games.
Technically yes this was last season’s cup final, but it was way too much fun to ignore, so we’re counting it!
Celtic came into the tie heavy favourites to retain their trophy, and seemed to be cruising as they wet two nil up by half-time. Hearts though fought back, and eventually levelled through Boyce and Kingsley, with a goal from either side in extra-time forcing a penalty shootout.
Craig Gordon’s impressive run of never losing a cup final looked to be continuing when the big stopper kept out Ryan Christie’s penalty, but it was his young counterpart Conor Hazard who went on to be the hero, saving both Stephen Kingsley and Craig Wighton’s spot-kicks.
Things might not have been as straightforward as Celtic fans would’ve wished, but securing the historic quadruple-treble in such dramatic fashion deserves a high place on our list.
2nd – St Mirren 3-2 Rangers
Who doesn’t love a cup giant killing? Just days before our 5th ranked game took place The Buddies played their part in another memorable match.
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers side have been nothing short of incredible this season, often breezing through games without even entering second gear. So naturally when Connor Goldson netted the opener after seven minutes most would’ve thought the game was already over.
St Mirren though under Jim Goodwin are known for their toughness and work-ethic, and fought back to turn the game on it’s head by the hour mark, at the time only being the second occasion ‘Gers had gone behind all season domestically.
The away side though were on a run of 10 consecutive victories, and seemed to have dug themselves out a hole when Steven Davis was first to react to a second-ball in the box.
Despite the blow however, St Mirren poured forward, and were rewarded when Conor McCarthy found the winner in the most dramatic fashion, putting his side ahead with almost the last kick of the game.
This was some proper cup football under the Paisley floodlights, we could only imagine how buzzing the place would’ve been had fans been in the ground!
1st – Aberdeen 3-3 Celtic
Aberdeen’s epic three all draw with Celtic is our choice for game of the season so far.
The phrase ‘exploded into life’ couldn’t be a more accurate way to describe this one. A cagey first-half saw the home side take a narrow one goal lead, with the wet and windy conditions seemingly taking away from the football.
Unexpectedly however, the second was quite the opposite! First Callum McGregor pulled Celtic back, before Ryan Hedges restored the Dons’ lead after a mistake from defender Shane Duffy.
At this point Neil Lennon looked to his bench to bring on experienced heads Scott Brown and Leigh Griffiths, the latter of whom sharply levelled the scores at 2-2.
Before Aberdeen could even blink Joe Lewis was picking the ball out his net again, Hoban was late getting to the ball to clear and Elyounoussi nipped in before him, Ryan Christie stroked the ball in from the spot to complete the instant turnaround.
As the theme of this list goes though, things still weren’t over. Deep into injury time Aberdeen put the pressure on, with an almost chaotic piece of play resulting in Cosgrove smashing the bar, but goalscorer McGregor knocking over an opponent in the process. referee Collum done well to bring the play back and allow Lewis Ferguson to show all the composure in the world, and level once more.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think!
Featured Image Credit – BT.com
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