Hearts, the Premiership leaders, had their goalkeeper, Alexander Schwolow, to thank as they survived a late onslaught to claim a goalless draw against Motherwell. The German made a string of quality saves to keep out Motherwell, who also had two goals ruled out for offside.
Derek McInnes admitted he was disappointed with the way his Hearts side finished the game. “We spoke at half-time about more belief in our work and more belief to step into the game,” McInnes said. “We had some good moments and stifled Motherwell. I don’t think they had any rhythm.
“I thought the game was there to be won, but then in the last 15 minutes we took a step back again. We’ve got Alex to thank for our point – if anybody looked like they were going to win it, it was Motherwell.
“I thought we were good enough for our point, though not enough for three points.”
Despite failing to win for the third game on the spin, McInnes believes there is a need for perspective. Hearts are currently five points ahead at the top of the Premiership, though nearest challengers Celtic have two games in hand.
McInnes said: “Our points tally is good. We’ve had one defeat in 14 games, we’re trying to get a bit of perspective. Everybody was getting a bit excited, and rightly so, at the start. Other than two or three games, every win has been hard fought.
“A lot of people leaning into this game were probably anticipating Motherwell beating us. It’s a point on the road. We came with a big support and a lot of expectation – it’s our fault the expectation has risen, and we’re all right with that.”
Dundee came from behind to end a run of four defeats and secure a 3-1 victory over St Mirren at Dens Park. St Mirren took the lead through Mikael Mandron, but the home side hit back twice before the break thanks to an Alex Gogic own goal and a cracker from Drey Wright before Joe Westley sealed the win late on with his side’s third.
The result lifted Dundee to ninth and relieved some of the pressure on Steven Pressley. St Mirren slipped to 10th after a third defeat on the bounce.
Jim Goodwin fumed at Matthew MacDermid’s hugely controversial decision to award Kilmarnock a penalty after Dundee United’s 1-1 draw at Rugby Park. Both struggling sides shared the spoils after Craig Sibbald levelled for United after the hosts opened the scoring on 34 minutes from the spot.
Referee MacDermid judged that Krisztian Keresztes barged into the back of Marley Watkins, but contact was extremely minimal. Dave Richards saved Bruce Anderson’s initial effort but the Kilmarnock striker slammed home the equaliser and Goodwin wasn’t pleased, at all, with the decision.
The United manager said: “The big talking point is the penalty kick that gets awarded to Kilmarnock. I can’t, for the life of me, having watched it back now half a dozen times after the game, believe that we’ve been done with a decision like that.
“I don’t understand how the referee is not called to the monitor to reassess the decision. And I think if he sees it again, I would be confident that he would have overturned it and not given the penalty.”
Celtic will attempt to close the gap to Hearts when they visit Hibernian on Sunday lunchtime for what could be Martin O’Neill’s swansong. O’Neill, in charge on a caretaker basis, is expected to make way for Wilfried Nancy imminently.
Later on Sunday, Danny Röhl will be hoping to build on his four-match winning streak in the league when Rangers host Falkirk. After two defeats in the Europa League, Röhl picked up a first point against Braga on Thursday.
