Motherwell keep pace with the leaders
Motherwell maintained the pressure at the top end of the Scottish Premiership by dispatching bottom club Livingston 2-0 away from home, with Zimbabwe forward Tawanda Maswanhise providing both goals in a commanding display.
The visitors wasted no time taking control. Maswanhise broke the deadlock in the sixth minute, guiding a looping header beyond the Livingston goalkeeper after Motherwell’s early pressure forced openings in the final third. It set the tone for a one-sided first half, with Livingston struggling to settle as Motherwell continued to dictate possession and territory.
Approaching the half-hour mark, Maswanhise struck again with a moment of quality that effectively decided the contest. Cutting inside to create space, he bent a curling effort into the corner to make it 2-0, rewarding Motherwell’s crisp build-up and movement between the lines.
Chances came and went
Motherwell looked capable of running up a bigger scoreline. Elijah Just came close when he rattled the woodwork, while Maswanhise threatened to complete a hat-trick as Livingston’s back line repeatedly found itself stretched. Although the visitors did not add to their tally, the match rarely drifted from their control, and Livingston were left with more questions than answers as their fight to escape the foot of the table grew increasingly urgent.
Kilmarnock move clear as Aberdeen unravel
Elsewhere, Livingston’s difficult night was compounded by results above them. Kilmarnock delivered a statement win at Rugby Park, beating Aberdeen 3-0 to pull six points clear of the bottom and ease their own relegation fears.
The hosts struck twice in quick succession to seize command early on. Brad Lyons opened the scoring with a glancing header, and moments later Bruce Anderson doubled the advantage with a composed finish that underlined Kilmarnock’s sharper edge in both boxes.
Aberdeen’s hopes of a response took a major hit when captain Graeme Shinnie was shown a straight red card for a high challenge, leaving the Dons with a mountain to climb. Kilmarnock made their numerical advantage count soon after, as Tyreece John-Jules added a third to put the outcome beyond doubt.
Pressure builds on the Dons
For Aberdeen, the defeat was damaging not only in terms of the scoreline but also the manner of it: early concessions, a costly dismissal, and little in the way of sustained threat. For Kilmarnock, it was a near-perfect evening—clinical in attack, organised without the ball, and now carrying increased breathing room in the lower reaches of the table.
With Motherwell’s win keeping them firmly in the hunt near the summit and Kilmarnock’s surge creating separation at the bottom, the weekend’s action tightened the tension at both ends of the Premiership.