In-form Aberdeen defeated St Johnstone 2-0 at Pittodrie to leapfrog Celtic and move to the top of the Scottish Premier League yesterday.

The Dons dictated the play but only had David Goodwillie’s spectacular goal to show for their dominance until substitute Cammy Smith finally made the points safe in stoppage time.

The victory, their sixth in a row and eighth from their last nine matches, was enough to move Derek McInnes’ men a point clear of the Hoops, whose fixture at Partick was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Dundee United got 2015 off to a memorable start with a crushing 6-2 win over big rivals Dundee at Tannadice.

Jackie McNamara’s men cruised to victory in the televised Scottish Premiership fixture and were 4-1 up at half-time against Paul Hartley’s side who had stand-in keeper Arvid Schenk between the sticks in what turned out to be a nightmare debut.

A double before the break from Gary Mackay-Steven allied to Stuart Armstrong’s early opener and Chris Erskine’s strike put the hosts in command after Greg Stewart had briefly levelled for the Dark Blues, who also netted in the final minutes through substitute Luka Tankulic.

United defender Jaroslaw Fojut headed home the fifth in the 65th minute before substitute Charlie Telfer completed the rout with a sweet finish as the Tangerines scored six goals for the first time ever in a derby, leaving off-form Dundee without a win in seven league matches.

Hamilton surpassed their 4-0 away victory over Motherwell as Ian Baraclough was brought crashing back down to earth following wins in his first two games as Motherwell manager.

First-half goals from Dougie Imrie and Ali Crawford at New Douglas Park sent Accies on their way to another Lanarkshire derby destruction.

And strikes from the Scottish Premiership’s two top scorers, Mickael Antoine-Curier and Tony Andreu, and substitute Danny Redmond, secured a 5-0 win for Alex Neil’s side, who moved three points behind champions Celtic.

The scoreline could have been even more embarrassing for Motherwell as Hamilton missed at least as many opportunities as they took, while the visitors lacked any cutting edge as they failed to build on narrow wins over St Mirren and Partick Thistle.

Results, standings
Dundee Utd 6 - Dundee 2
Aberdeen 2 - St Johnstone 0
Hamilton 5 - Motherwell 0
Ross County 1 - Inverness 3
St Mirren 1 - Kilmarnock 2
Partick p - Celtic p (postponed due to waterlogged pitch)