Scottish Premiership roundup: Celtic earn narrow win

Celtic have moved 11 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a narrow 1-0 win against St Johnstone away from home.

Virgil van Dijk scored the only goal of the contest after just five minutes when he got past a number of opposition defenders and shot home.

The Saints created a number of chances in the second half, but failed to make a comeback as Neil Lennon's side maintained their unbeaten record in the Scottish top flight.

Motherwell are now second in the standings as Aberdeen, Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle all dropped points on Thursday.

Lionel Ainsworth's third goal of the season early in the second half at Pittodrie proved enough for Motherwell to get the better of Aberdeen 1-0.

United were hammered 4-1 at St Mirren, who ended their four-match winless run in the Scottish Premiership with the victory.

Steven Thompson scored twice for Danny Lennon's team, while United's Keith Watson was sent off for a bad foul on Sean Kelly.

Inverness are currently third in the league table with 33 points from 17 matches, one fewer than second-placed Motherwell, as they drew 0-0 at Partick Thistle.

Elsewhere in Scotland's top flight on Boxing Day, bottom side Hearts went down 4-0 to Kilmarnock at home and Ross County suffered a 2-0 defeat to Hibernian in Dingwall.

Results in full: Aberdeen 0-1 Motherwell, Hearts 0-4 Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle 0-0 Inverness CT, Ross County 0-2 Hibernian, St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic, St Mirren 4-1 Dundee United