Tomas Cvancara converted another crucial penalty as a major intervention by the video assistant referee helped second-placed Celtic come from behind to beat Motherwell 3-1, before Hearts went down 1-0 at Kilmarnock, reducing their lead to two points.
The Czech striker Cvancara followed up his Scottish Cup penalty shootout winner at Ibrox with Celtic’s second goal in the 72nd minute after Emmanuel Longelo had been dismissed for a challenge on Daizen Maeda.
The referee, John Beaton, had initially given a goal-kick, but a lengthy look at the VAR monitor at the behest of Kevin Clancy changed the complexion of the game.
The Motherwell manager, Jens Berthel Askou, questioned why the Celtic midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was not sent off after a challenge on the New Zealand international Elijah Just. “I don’t see anything vicious in the tackle,” he said. “It’s just a little bit clumsy, but it’s still a tackle that almost wipes out Eli’s opportunity of going to the World Cup. He’s very, very sore. He looks swollen down the leg.”
Both sides had scored in the first half courtesy of some high pressing, Motherwell through Just. Yang Hyun-jun quickly levelled and the winger rounded off the scoring as the 10 men took risks.
Martin O’Neill directs his Celtic players. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
Martin O’Neill hailed Yang’s performance. “He was sensational. He scored the goals, but it was the work he did going backwards too. I wouldn’t know what sort of distances he covered, but it would have been immense.”
At Rugby Park, Michael Schjonning-Larsen’s first-half goal proved decisive for Killie, who held firm thereafter to move nine points clear of bottom side Livingston and level with 10th-placed St Mirren.
Hearts they fell behind in the 17th minute as Greg Kiltie stepped away from Harry Milne on the right and fizzed over a tantalising delivery to the back post, where Schjonning-Larsen nipped in unchecked to notch his first goal for Killie from just inside the six-yard box.
Hearts started to bring more intensity to their play as the first half wore on and they went close in the 22nd minute when Blair Spittal released Cláudio Braga on the left and the Portuguese forward saw a powerful low shot beaten away by Kelle Roos. Tomas Magnusson and Spittal had later chances but Kilmarnock held on.
On Sunday, third-placed Rangers – now four points behind Celtic – are at St Mirren in a noon kick-off, followed by the Dundee derby at Dens Park.
Hibernian struck the woodwork twice in a goalless draw with the bottom club, Livingston. Hibs closed the gap on fourth-placed Motherwell to six points, but will be disappointed the deficit was not smaller before next week’s trip to Fir Park.
The Hibs manager, David Gray, said: “It’s extremely frustrating and it feels like an opportunity missed. I thought the players had enough chances to win two games, we dominated every single metric in terms of possession, shots, everything that comes with that. The bit that was missing was putting the ball in the net.”
Hibs dominated possession and Jamie McGrath hit the frame of the goal either side of the break. The substitute Josh Campbell was also guilty of wasting a good opportunity in the second half.
It was a fourth straight draw for Livingston, who survived a late penalty drama. Lloyd Wilson pointed for a Hibs penalty and then overturned his decision after a video assistant referee review, with Mo Sylla winning the ball in a tackle with Martin Boyle. Livingston remain without a league win since August.
“I was rubbing my eyes because that decision’s up there,” said Livingston’s Marvin Bartley. “The problem for me is that one, it’s given so quickly after clearly he wins the ball, and the other thing is if you’re not in the top flight and you don’t have VAR, that’s going down as a penalty kick right at the end of the game.”
A late Falkirk leveller denied Stephen Robinson victory in his first match as Aberdeen head coach as Barney Stewart’s goal cancelled out Kevin Nisbet’s opener. Robinson was appointed on Thursday, nine and a half weeks after Jimmy Thelin’s departure.
Aberdeen took the lead after 73 minutes. The Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain took a poor touch from Leon McCann’s backpass, allowing Nisbet to block his clearance before the striker nodded home from close range for his ninth goal of the season.
It looked like that would prove the winner for Aberdeen but Stewart rose in the centre of the penalty area to head home a cross from Ethan Ross a minute from time to earn a share of the points.
