SPL wrap: Rangers stay two points clear

Rangers maintained their two-point lead on top of the Scottish Premier League with a 4-1 away win over Motherwell on Sunday.

Kenny Miller opened the scoring for the reigning champions after 26 minutes and their advantage was doubled on 34 minutes when Motherwell defender Steven Saunders put the ball past Darren Randolph and into his own goal.

John Sutton pulled a goal back for Motherwell just after the break, but Czech winger Vladimir Weiss restored a two-goal buffer five minutes later and Miller completed the rout after an hour when he netted his 23rd league goal of the season.

Celtic kept the heat on their fierce rivals with a 2-0 win over St Johnstone at Celtic Park, but had to wait until injury time to break down a resolute St Johnstone defence.

South Korean Du-Ri Cha eventually broke the deadlock in the 91st minute with a glorious long-strange strike past Peter Enckelman in the St Johnstone goal,

His compatriot Ki Sung-Yueng completed the win two minutes later when he lashed a left-foot shot into the top corner.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Aberdeen lifted themselves off the bottom with a much-needed 2-1 win over Hibernian – the perfect start to Craig Brown and Archie Knox’s tenure at the club.

Yoann Folly gave Aberdeen the lead after 36 minutes, but Derek Riordan hit back for Hibs on the stroke of half-time.

Scott Vernon scored the winner on 62 minutes as Aberdeen moved three points clear of bottom-placed Hamilton who have two games in hand.

And St Mirren put a dent in the European aspirations of Inverness Caledonian Thistle with a 2-1 win at Caledonian stadium.

Lee Cox put Inverness ahead after only eight minutes, but two goals from Steven Thomson handed the win to St Mirren who climb to ninth place, while Inverness remain in fourth.