5 things we learned from the Scottish Premiership

Celtic secured their best start to a league season for nine years after a 1-0 win at Hamilton made it five wins from five.

They remain three points clear of Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership after Steven Gerrard’s men came from behind to beat 10-man Livingston 3-1.

Elsewhere, defeats for Hearts and Hibernian set up a high-stakes Edinburgh derby next weekend with both clubs languishing in the bottom four.

Here are five other things we learned from the weekend’s action.

1. Mohamed Elyounoussi is another danger for Celtic’s opponents

The loan signing from Southampton was handed a debut in the absence of the injured Mikey Johnston and he had a shot blocked and crossed for James Forrest to net inside four minutes of Celtic’s 1-0 win at Hamilton. The Norway international continued to look dangerous and occasionally showed his pace despite the lack of space to run against a packed defence. Elyounoussi provides yet another option out wide with Forrest netting his seventh goal in nine games and Lewis Morgan, Jonny Hayes, Marian Shved and Scott Sinclair all battling for game time.

2. Hearts fans have lost patience

Hundreds of supporters gathered outside Tynecastle in protest after a 3-2 home defeat by Motherwell left their team bottom of the table. Some even tried to storm the main entrance as they called for Craig Levein to quit and vented their anger at the board, which includes the former Scotland boss. Levein vowed to stay on and solve their problems but pressure is mounting ahead of next weekend’s Edinburgh derby.

3. Hibernian need more character

That’s according to head coach Paul Heckingbottom, after a 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock. Hibs were the better team up until Liam Millar’s 56th-minute opener but they could not find a way to get back in the game. Heckingbottom labelled his team “soft” after a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell last time and he admitted they need to show more leadership after conceding a 16th goal in five matches. The Englishman is another boss under pressure.

4. Angelo Alessio has won over some Kilmarnock fans

The Italian’s name rung out around Rugby Park as the Killie fans lapped up a second win on the trot and a fourth consecutive clean sheet. The manager found himself under serious pressure after a shock European exit against Connah’s Quay Nomads but he shrugged off criticism of his methods from former defender Kirk Broadfoot to lead Killie up to sixth in the table.

5. Rangers will have to wait longer for Ryan Kent’s help

Steven Gerrard had warned the winger still had to catch up with his match-fitness ahead of the visit of Livingston after Kent rejoined the club from Liverpool on transfer deadline day following a lengthy pursuit. But Kent was handed a start only to pull a hamstring in the first half. The 22-year-old now faces several weeks out and is set to miss a Europa League game against Feyenoord and possibly Young Boys, a Betfred Cup tie against Livingston and league games against St Johnstone, Aberdeen and maybe Hamilton.