Olwethu Makhanya scored a late equaliser as Rangers earned a 2-2 draw with Hearts on the much-hyped Tynecastle return for Derek McInnes.
The Rangers manager was booed loudly by the home support as he emerged from the tunnel for his first match back since leaving for Ibrox in June, just weeks after the Edinburgh side were pipped to the Scottish Premiership title.
However, his team silenced a pumped-up home crowd when Kevin Kelsy scored a 16th-minute opener after a lapse from Laurent Mendy.
Hearts turned the game round with goals from Cláudio Braga and Calvin Miller early in the second half. But Makhanya’s 89th-minute header ensured the match ended all square, keeping second-placed Rangers four points behind Celtic and four above Hearts.
Celtic showed their mettle as they fought back to grab a 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Parkhead.
The Colombian striker Camilo Durán put Martin O’Neill’s team ahead in the 18th minute with his 11th goal of the season. But the Australian forward Zac Sapsford levelled in the 28th minute with a header before the defender Neil Farrugia put the visitors in front three minutes later with his first goal for the club.
Celtic piled forward in the second half and the defender Liam Scales equalised with a 64th-minute header. O’Neill said: “We cannot control anything that’s happening elsewhere. The disappointment and the frustration comes from not winning a home game.
“That’s really it. But considering the trials and tribulations over the last number of weeks, yeah, I’m not totally dissatisfied. We conceded some poor goals, but we fought back and I just thought we were going to win it. But in the end we could have lost it too, on the break. I thought Dundee United were very dangerous and they played very well in the game.”
Stephen Robinson, the Aberdeen manager, admitted his side were not good enough in the 1-0 defeat by Falkirk, but refused to shout and scream at his players in the aftermath.
Ben Brauhaus, on as a substitute, scored the only goal of the game, side-footing into the bottom-left corner from the centre of the box after 73 minutes.
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Robinson, though, felt his side should have scored from at least one of their chances before then, saying: “Not good enough. We got what we deserved. We had four chances we should score. We had four great chances from inside the penalty spot, and we should score.
“All four are very, very easy chances. We don’t do that, they take their one chance, and that’s why you don’t win football matches.”
Ash Hay piled more pressure on the Kilmarnock manager, Neil McCann, after scoring a late double to earn Dundee a 3-1 win at Dens Park. His strikes, in the 83rd minute and the fifth minute of added time, gave his side the win after Joe Hugill’s 75th-minute penalty.
Hibernian moved off the bottom of the table as they drew 1-1 at St Mirren to secure Marink Reedijk’s first point as manager. Marko Ivezic put Hibs ahead but Jason Kerr’s own goal denied them a third league win this season.
Motherwell ended a six-match losing run but they were denied a victory as Josh Campbell’s 93rd-minute equaliser for St Johnstone earned them a 2-2 draw. Taylor Steven had given the home side the lead before Ibrahim Said and Tawanda Maswanhise turned the scoreline around. However, Campbell’s late header sealed a point.
