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Celtic too strong for Dundee

Gary Hooper lashes the ball home © PA Photos

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Defending Scottish champions Celtic secured their first victory in three league games to climb to third in the SPL with a 2-0 win over Dundee at Parkhead on Saturday.

Goals by Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama gave the Bhoys, who had dropped seven points in the first five games of the season, a comfortable win over the SPL's bottom side.

Dundee keeper Robert Douglas brilliantly saved a Scott Brown penalty in the 38th minute only to be beaten just before the break when Hooper hammered in from 10 yards. Wanyama fired in from distance after four minutes of the second-half and the one-sided match was over.

Hibernian blew their chance to go top as they surrendered a two-goal lead at home to draw 2-2 with Inverness at Easter Road.

Eoin Doyle's opener and a terrific strike from David Wotherspoon had given Hibs a comfortable advantage. However, Conor Pepper pulled one back before Richie Foran grabbed a late equaliser. Inverness remain without a league win this season, but they had cause to be happy with a point from a contest that should have been over by half-time.

Goals from St Johnstone pair Liam Craig and Frazer Wright brought an end to Ross County's 40-match unbeaten run as the home side went down 2-1 at Victoria Park.

Craig gave Saints the lead against the run of play on the half hour mark and the Perth side went a player down a couple of minutes later when Rowan Vine was sent off for an off-the-ball incident with Richard Brittain.

County piled on the pressure in the second half and Sam Morrow hit a deserved equaliser in the 68th minute. But with County pushing for a winner Saints grabbed a vital second in the 85th minute when Wright headed home following a corner.

Callum Paterson netted his first career goals as the converted striker helped Hearts secure their first league win of the season - a 3-0 triumph over Dundee United.

The 17-year-old, who was previously a defender, fired Hearts into a 28th-minute lead with a powerful strike from 20 yards and showed a goalscorer's instinct to net the third goal after a casual passback by Sean Dillon. Arvydas Novikovas had struck three minutes after Paterson's opener with a swerving long-range effort as Hearts bounced back from consecutive defeats by Dundee and St Mirren.

Cillian Sheridan scored his first goal for Kilmarnock as they defeated St Mirren 3-1 at Rugby Park. Sheridan opened the scoring when he glanced home Danny Racchi's pin-point delivery after 26 minutes and James Fowler doubled the hosts' lead 12 minutes into the second half.

A wonderful individual effort from James Dayton on the hour mark added to St Mirren's misery, and despite Paul McGowan's deflected consolation the hosts held on to claim their second win of the season.

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