December was a month in which bottom team Falkirk actually got the big headlines, as they did a great escape in the Europa League to complete the Scottish sweepstake in having all six European contestants enter the knockout rounds. Having to win away from home at Vicente Calderón to knock Atlético out, an important goal from the team's first pick Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a heroic defensive display afterwards landed Falkirk a ticket to the Last 32, joining all other four Scottish squads in the tournament at that stage.
UEFA, not being content that a Spanish club got knocked out launched an investigation to the SNP government and first minister Alex Salmond who claimed to "nou nothen aboot any Scottish govermant paemants" to the recently imported players
Either way, in the league it has emerged into a two-horse race between Aberdeen and St. Johnstone, both of whom have slowly pulled away from the "everyone beats everyone" pack.
At the bottom of the table, Hamilton actually bursted into life by winning their final two games of 2009, cutting Falkirk's lead over them for avoiding the bottom relegation spot down to a solitary point.
In a league where any team can beat any other at any day, it'd perhaps be a bit rash to say that so and so many teams now can't be relegated, but it's shaping up to be a battle between Hibernian and the two aforementioned clubs to stay up. The Hibs started the month in glorious fashion, smashing home five to nothing to cut Motherwell off from the apparent title race, before reverting back to the old indifferent ways. Gómez duly stopped scoring and Schweinsteiger duly stopped assisting. Hibs need to wake the hell up to avoid putting Andrés Iniesta in Scotland's second tier.
Dundee United is this season's most absurd team. They've dominated on the road, but are the worst team in the league at home simultaneously! The Tangerines are sitting in third, having netted 29 points in 18, seven of which at home and 22 away! In fact, United have ten more points away from home than league leaders Aberdeen. If only the boys from Tannadice knew how to use home advantage, the league might already be sealed for them. Now, even a 2nd-place Champions League qualification is going to take a heroic effort.
The Old Firm teams have continued to play lacklustre in the league, in spite of their star-studded teams. Miraculously, both managers are hanging on, but I assume for dear life.
The biggest shipper of goals is actually Hearts in fourth, Jefferies' bunch letting 34 in 18 matches go past the keeper. To add insult to injury, after his return to the team, Júlio César picked up another injury, in what's proving to be groundhog season for keepers. Luckily for Hearts, he'll be back in contention shortly. It took them a long time, but not as long as Spurs in 2018-19 to record a draw, but now it's happened.
As for the big stars, Agüero and Forlán are red hot, sitting at 15 and 14 respectively, whereas Messi remains the highest-performing player in the league. Meanwhile, Andrés Iniesta has quietly moved into second in that category, being the sole Hibernian player to take any pride in December as Gómez' goal drought got further extended as he dislocated his shoulder. Without him up front, Hibs look set to continue their struggle. Meanwhile, both Zlatan and Rooney at each of their relegation rivals are currently fit, so this has to worry Hibs' drafting crew a lot.
SPLLeague table:
1. Aberdeen 18/37
2. St. Johnstone 18/34
3. Dundee Utd 18/29
4. Hearts 18/28
5. Motherwell 18/28
6. St. Mirren 18/26
7. Kilmarnock 18/25
8. Celtic 18/25
9. Rangers 18/24
10. Hibernian 18/19
11. Falkirk 18/16
12. Hamilton 18/15
December points:
Aberdeen 5/12
St. Johnstone 5/12
Dundee Utd 5/8
Hearts 5/7
Motherwell 5/7
St. Mirren 5/7
Kilmarnock 5/5
Celtic 5/6
Rangers 5/9
Hibernian 5/3
Falkirk 5/4
Hamilton 5/6
Top scorers:
Agüero (Aberdeen) 15
Forlán (Dundee Utd) 14
Milito (St. Mirren) 10
Hulk (Motherwell) 10
Modric (Celtic) 9
Most assists:
Gourcuff (St. Johnstone) 8
Dani Alves (Dundee Utd) 7
Iniesta (Hibernian) 7
Messi (St. Johnstone) 7
Schweinsteiger (Hibernian) 7
Criscito (Motherwell) 7
Mid-season bonus, avg. rating:
Messi (St. Johnstone) 8.15
Iniesta (Hibernian) 8.06
Agüero (Aberdeen) 7.82
Gourcuff (St. Johnstone) 7.76
Kaká (Aberdeen) 7.76
Dani Alves (Dundee Utd) 7.73
Fàbregas (Motherwell) 7.71
Xavi (Celtic) 7.71
Xabi Alonso (Hamilton) 7.71
Ribéry (Dundee Utd) 7.70
CLRangersRubin Kazan (H) 1-1: Villa
1. Liverpool 16
2. Rangers 11
3. Rubin Kazan 4
4. Panathinaikos 3
Last 16 draw:
Rangers-Milan
Full draw:
Spoiler
Juventus-Man United
Rangers-Milan
Barcelona-Inter
Beşiktaş-Arsenal
Porto-CSKA Moskva
Stuttgart-Chelsea
Sevilla-Dinamo Kyiv
AZ-Liverpool
ELAberdeenHamburg (H) 4-0 (Hamsík, Agüero, Kaká, Young)
Athletic (A) 0-3
1. Athletic 12
2. Aberdeen 8
3. Hamburg 7
4. FC København 7
Aberdeen through to the Round of 32.
CelticRosenborg (A) 2-0: Lavezzi, Xavi
Valencia (H) 2-0: Ronaldinho, Pirlo
1. Celtic 16
2. Rosenborg 10
3. Valencia 5
4. Odense 2
Celtic through to the Round of 32.
FalkirkBenfica (H) 2-2: Ibrahimovic, Huntelaar
Atlético (A) 1-0: Ibrahimovic
1. Genoa 11
2. Falkirk 8
3. Atlético 7
4. Benfica 6
Falkirk through to the Last 32.
HeartsMetalist (H) 1-1: Jonsson
Heerenveen (A) 1-0: Ramires
1. Zenit 15
2. Hearts 11
3. Metalist 5
4. Heerenveen 3
Hearts through to the Round of 32.
MotherwellAnderlecht (A) 0-2
Werder Bremen (H) 3-1: Azpilicueta, Hulk (2)
1. Motherwell 13
2. Anderlecht 11
3. Werder Bremen 5
4. Fulham 4
Overall, that means Scottish clubs have made sure that Atlético, Hamburg, Valencia, Werder Bremen and Fulham are no more in the Europa League's 2010 knockout stages.
Last 32 draw:
Aberdeen-Shakthar
Levski-Celtic
Falkirk-Athletic
Hearts-Roma
Club Brugge-Motherwell
Scottish CupThe draw for the Last 32 (4th round) was as follows:
Falkirk-Dunfermline
Hearts-Partick Thistle
Celtic-Hibernian
Arbroath-Rangers
Hamilton-St. Mirren
Kilmarnock-Dundee
Motherwell-Stirling
Ayr-Dundee Utd
Inverness-Aberdeen
St. Johnstone-Raith
Anyway, I hope I'm not posting too much too quickly
Enjoy!