Celtic brush aside St Johnstone to restore nine-point lead at top of Scottish Premiership

There were also wins for St Mirren and Hibernian after Celtic responded to Rangers’ victory at Ross County

Reo Hatate celebrates the opening goal with Aaron Moy (Getty Images)

Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi both bagged braces as Celtic restored their nine-point advantage at the top of the Premiership with a 4-1 victory over St Johnstone.

Hatate put Celtic ahead after 14 minutes before Furuhashi got in on the act, doubling the Hoops’ lead soon after and then grabbing his second just before the break when he tapped home from James Forrest’s square ball.

Celtic went four up shortly after half-time when makeshift right-back Hatate slotted into the far corner following a VAR check but St Johnstone pulled a goal back courtesy of Drey Wright’s rebound effort.

Some of the shine was taken away from Celtic’s performance in stoppage time when substitute David Turnbull was shown a red card for his challenge on goalkeeper Remi Matthews after another VAR check.

The win saw Celtic once again move nine points clear of second-placed Rangers, who beat Ross County 1-0 on Friday night thanks to John Lundstram’s first-half effort.

Also on Saturday, St Mirren came from behind to pick up their first win in five with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Aberdeen - despite the hosts missing two of their three penalties.

The Dons made a positive start when Matty Kennedy edged them in front after nine minutes but things turned sour when captain Anthony Stewart saw red in the 35th minute.

The challenge brought the first of St Mirren’s three spot-kicks, but Mark O’Hara saw his effort strike the woodwork. Fortunately for St Mirren though, the ball then bounced off goalkeeper Kelle Roos for an own goal to bring the scores level.

O’Hara made no mistake from the spot a second time as he gave his side a 53rd-minute lead but Jonah Ayunga spurned the chance to extend their advantage when he too failed to convert a penalty.

However, it did not cost the hosts in the end as Greg Kiltie sealed all three points when he rolled into an empty net following a counter attack after Aberdeen had sent keeper Roos up for a late corner.

Lawrence Shankland scored a last-gasp penalty to earn a point for Hearts in a 2-2 draw with Dundee United.

Steven Fletcher put the hosts in front after 20 minutes but Michael Smith’s effort from inside the area equalised for Hearts shortly before the break.

United regained their advantage through Dylan Levitt two minutes after half-time and thought they had all three points but, deep into stoppage time, Ross Graham brought Shankland down inside the area, and he picked himself up to dispatch the penalty and share the points.

Hibernian ended a run of four successive league defeats with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Livingston.

Livi’s nightmare started when Jason Holt was given his marching orders after just 15 minutes and Hibs went on to score three goals in just eight first-half minutes courtesy of Kevin Nisbet, Chris Cadden and Kyle Magennis.

Magennis added his second of the match five minutes after the break to end their losing streak in style, with Livi’s misery completed when they missed two late penalties through Esmael Goncalves and Jack Fitzwater.