Celtic beat Killie to put title champagne on ice as St Mirren finish in top six

Celtic’s William Hill Premiership title could be confirmed on Sunday after they secured a comprehensive win over Kilmarnock while St Mirren won the battle to finish in the top six.

Brendan Rodgers’ league leaders won 5-1 to move 16 points clear of Rangers, who have just 18 to play for – meaning defeat at Aberdeen on Sunday would hand their rivals the trophy.

Reo Hatate’s brace, sandwiching Daizen Maeda’s tap-in and Cameron Carter-Vickers’ long-range screamer, put Celtic four up by the 25-minute mark before Daniel Armstrong pulled one back for Killie. Anthony Ralston fired home a late fifth.

Hearts went into Saturday’s final pre-split fixture in sixth place, with a one-point advantage over opponents Motherwell as well as St Mirren.

But a drab goalless stalemate at Fir Park opened the door for the Buddies, with Roland Idowu their hero in a topsy-turvy 3-2 win over Ross County.

Trailing to Ronan Hale’s goal, they came back to lead 2-1 through Caolan Boyd-Munce and Jonah Ayunga.

Jordan White drew County level but Idowu had the final say – and in the process made his side safe from relegation, with just seven points covering the teams in sixth to 11th positions.

Dundee United beat bottom club St Johnstone 1-0 with a goal from Emmanuel Adegboyega.