Livingston and Hibernian also record victories as Celtic moved 10 points clear of Rangers at the summit
Wednesday 12 February 2020 23:11, UK
Motherwell missed the chance to go back above Aberdeen into third place in the Scottish Premiership as substitute Chris Kane scored a stoppage-time winner for St Johnstone to beat the 10-man visitors 2-1 at McDiarmid Park.
Kane flicked home Jason Kerr's near-post cross and was joined in his celebrations by all of his team-mates, including goalkeeper Zander Clark.
Clark was no doubt the most relieved man inside McDiarmid Park after his blunder allowed Christopher Long to equalise five minutes after Motherwell had gifted Callum Hendry a well-taken opener.
Celtic took a massive step towards nine in a row with a thumping 5-0 Premiership win over Hearts as Rangers crashed at Kilmarnock.
Midfielder Olivier Ntcham opened the scoring for the home side on the half-hour mark with a drive, with second-half goals from defender Christopher Jullien, midfielder Callum McGregor, substitute Ryan Christie and defender Jozo Simunovic completing the rout.
Jambos substitute Marcel Langer was then shown a straight red by Willie Collum late on for a foul on Hoops skipper Scott Brown.
Parkhead cheered loudly when news of Killie's second goal in their 2-1 win over second-placed Rangers came through, with Steven Gerrard's side now 10 points behind the champions, albeit with a game in hand.
Daniel Stendel had promised to attack the home side in his first appearance at Celtic Park as Jambos boss and, while his side put in a decent first-half performance, they left battered and bruised and still bottom of the table.
Rangers' title hopes were left hanging by a thread after a 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock.
Ayrshire was famously the venue where the wheels came off for Steven Gerrard's team during last season's championship race and Gers were left with another dose of Rugby Park regret on a hugely damaging evening.
A ground where Rangers had won just once in their six previous league visits could yet prove to be the graveyard for this year's aspirations as goals from Stephen O'Donnell and Eamonn Brophy saw Gers slip 10 points behind leaders Celtic.
The Ibrox side still have a game in hand and two Old Firm clashes to play but Neil Lennon's Hoops will believe they have one hand on a ninth successive title.
Scott Arfield had fired Gers ahead but the hosts played on the visitors' nerves to claim a victory which keeps them just a point outside the top six.
Livingston shrugged off their Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Championship opponents Inverness as they beat St Mirren 2-1.
A first-half penalty from Steven Lawless and a second from Lyndon Dykes just 15 seconds into the second half had the Lions in command.
However, Jon Obika pulled one back for St Mirren three minutes later to leave the match hanging in the balance until the full-time whistle.
The three points helped to cement the home side's place in the top six of the Premiership and left the Buddies just four points above bottom-side Hearts.
Hibernian claimed consecutive victories for the first time since November as they swept aside Ross County 3-0 at Easter Road.
Hibs' potent strike partnership of Christian Doidge and Marc McNulty both found the net during a dominant first period.
McNulty saw a second-half penalty saved by County goalkeeper Nathan Baxter as they sought to make the game safe, but that was quickly rendered moot when Adam Jackson scored a towering header in the dying embers.
