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Five talking points from this weekend's Scottish football

:Headline: Five talking points from this weekend's Scottish football:
Celtic's trophy streak continues, but for how much longer? Meanwhile, things look good for Hearts and Rangers.
Sports Mole

Celtic created more history but saw their deficit at the top of the Scottish Premiership further increase on another dramatic weekend in Scottish football.

The Hoops clinched another trophy after beating Hearts 4-3 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in last season's delayed William Hill Scottish Cup final.

But they had fallen 16 points behind leaders Rangers, albeit with three games in hand, 24 hours earlier and sit level on points with Aberdeen ahead of the festive schedule.

Here are five things we learned from the weekend action.

Celtic are quadruple treble winners

Neil Lennon's side set a new benchmark with their fourth consecutive clean sweep as they became the first team to win the Scottish Cup four years running. Their run of 12 successive trophies is unlikely to be beaten in the foreseeable future.

The Hoops' defensive fragility remains

The Hampden clash was the sixth time in two months that Celtic have conceded three or more goals in a game. Celtic were two ahead and coasting at half-time but Shane Duffy again had a torrid afternoon as Celtic shipped three goals from crosses into the box. Goalkeeper Conor Hazard saved two penalties in the shoot-out but his poor efforts to deal with two set-pieces played a major role in the game going that far.

Hearts should bounce back first time

Robbie Neilson's side recovered from a quiet first half to give Celtic real problems and showed strong spirit to fight back twice. With the experience and quality at their disposal, the performance showed they should have more than enough to clinch promotion at the first time of asking.

Rangers have character

Much was asked of the Gers squad's temperament after their latest cup exit and Motherwell posed more questions after taking an early lead at Ibrox and frustrating their hosts with two banks of five players. Steven Gerrard's side eventually found the answers to win 3-1 and go 16 points clear.

Stuart Kettlewell fronts up to anything

Kettlewell broke the news of his sacking to the media himself moments after being relieved of his duties in the aftermath of a 2-0 home defeat by Hamilton, which left County four points adrift at the foot of the table. With the news still raw, Kettlewell further underlined his class by saying: "I understand football and there is no ill-feeling from me towards the football club or the chairman."

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Scottish Premiership Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1RangersRangers2220205755262
2Celtic19134245153043
3Aberdeen2011632718939
4Hibernian2210663023736
5Livingston208392526-127
6Dundee UnitedDundee Utd226881727-1026
7St Mirren196491522-722
8Kilmarnock2163122226-421
9St Johnstone2247111931-1219
10Hamilton AcademicalHamilton2153132145-2418
11Motherwell2045111731-1417
12Ross County2245131339-2617
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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1796237211633
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd1610333324933
3Leicester CityLeicester17102531211032
4Tottenham HotspurSpurs1685329151429
5Manchester CityMan City1585224131129
6Southampton178542619729
7Everton169252620629
8Aston Villa1582529161326
9Chelsea1775532211126
10West Ham UnitedWest Ham177552421326
11Arsenal177282019123
12Leeds UnitedLeeds177283033-323
13Wolverhampton WanderersWolves176471824-622
14Crystal Palace176472229-722
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle165471826-819
16Burnley15447920-1116
17Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton172872128-714
18Fulham152581323-1011
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom1715111139-288
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd170215829-212
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