Celtic leapfrogged rivals Rangers to move second in the Premiership with a narrow 1-0 win over St Mirren but Hearts stayed clear at the top as two late goals saw them past Motherwell 3-1.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first-half strike was enough at Celtic Park, while Rangers head to Falkirk on Sunday and can reduce Hearts’ lead to one point again with victory.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was on target after 15 minutes, having had a goal chalked off for offside before that, and it was fairly comfortable for Celtic in the first half without creating too many clear-cut chances, though St Mirren did look a threat on the break.
Celtic’s goal arrived when Benjamin Nygren found McGregor and when his shot was blocked by Alex Gogic, Kieran Tierney picked out Oxlade-Chamberlain, who rifled into the bottom corner.
St Mirren offered much more in the second half, certainly in terms of possession, without posing much of a threat.
This was the first time these sides had met since St Mirren stunned Celtic with a 3-1 win to lift the Premier Sports Cup back in December, but a repeat of that never looked likely.
The Green Brigade were allowed back into Celtic Park for the first time since November and were in fine voice, for what was a dress rehearsal for next week’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
After a goalless first half at Tynecastle, Emmanuel Longelo fired Motherwell in front only for the leaders Hearts to equalise through Cláudio Braga’s overhead kick.
It looked like the points might be shared before Stephen Welsh was judged to have fouled Landry Kaboré and Lawrence Shankland held his nerve to convert from the spot. Kaboré then added a third goal in added time to keep Hearts on top.
Stephen Robinson broke his winless run since moving from St Mirren to Aberdeen, the manager seeing his side win 2-0 at Pittodrie against Hibernian with a goal in each half from Kevin Nisbet.
Zac Sapsford’s late penalty secured Dundee United a dramatic 3-2 win over Livingston in a thriller at Tannadice.
The hosts took the lead in the first half through Will Ferry but Livingston hit back after the break with a quickfire Lewis Smith double.
However, United equalised through substitute Krisztian Keresztes, with Sapsford grabbing all three points for the hosts from the penalty spot deep into added time.
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