St Johnstone 1-1 Hibernian
- Published
Highlights: St Johnstone 1-1 Hibernian
Chris Kane's late equaliser earned a point for St Johnstone against a Hibernian side who played 76 minutes with 10 men at McDiarmid Park.
Efe Ambrose headed Hibs into an early lead, but with the game still in its infancy, goalkeeper Ofir Marciano was sent off for handling outside the box.
After Kane had already hit the post, he found space in the box to draw Saints level.
And Saints could have won it when Scott Tanser's free-kick hit the bar.
The draw means Hibs miss the chance to overtake Aberdeen in third place in the Premiership, while Saints also passed up the chance to leapfrog Motherwell into seventh.
Hibs head coach Neil Lennon, suspended from the touchline, had barely taken his seat in the away directors' box when his team took the lead.
Scott Allan showed terrific skill down the left-hand side and sent an inch-perfect cross into the danger area that allowed Ambrose to head beyond the stranded figure of goalkeeper Alan Mannus.
It was the perfect start for the visitors, who were looking to continue their impressive recent run of form.
However, with less than 15 minutes on the clock, they were a man down.
Saints striker Kane latched on to a long through ball with Marciano racing fully 30 yards out of his goal to close down.
Kane tried to lift the ball over the goalkeeper, but it came off the outstretched arms of Marciano, with referee John Beaton eventually issuing the red card after discussion with his assistant Paul O'Neil.
Cammy Bell made his way off the bench, his first appearance between the sticks since playing for Dundee United against Hamilton Academical in last season's play-off matches.
He was called into action quickly when he made a terrific reaction save from a Joe Shaughnessy volley as the home side searched for an equaliser.
Saints also came close through a Murray Davidson header and a long-range effort by Liam Craig drifted over.
St Johnstone striker Chris Kane watches as his shot beats Hibs goalkeeper Cammy Bell
Kane did well to turn Paul Hanlon 20 yards from goal and, although his shot beat the despairing dive of Bell, the ball clipped the outside of the post.
Bell parried George Williams' ball out, but Kane could not control, allowing the Hibs defence to clear.
Tackles were flying in all over the field, with referee Beaton a busy man; John McGinn, Blair Alston and Craig all found their way into the book.
With eight minutes left, St Johnstone finally found their way through.
The Hibs defence could not stop Denny Johnstone finding Kane around 12 yards out and the striker showed terrific composure to bury the ball in the bottom right-hand corner.
It set up a whirlwind finish and Tanser came close to scoring a magnificent winner, but his free-kick from 25 yards bounced down off the underside of the bar with Williams unable to knock the rebound home.
Post-match reaction
St Johnstone 1-1 Hibernian: 'The game had everything' - Tommy Wright
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "I've got to be [happy] as Hibs defended so well and we got the goal late.
"We did everything we could; we changed our system to a three and then to a 2-4-4. We just couldn't find that bit of luck or wee bit of quality.
"I'm happy that we've built on the away performance [4-0 win over Dundee].
"Scottish football gets knocked often and far too easily, but for sheer entertainment, you couldn't go away not having been entertained tonight."
Hibernian assistant coach Garry Parker: "We got an early goal, which was good, but Marciano comes out - wrong decision. He has handled it and he has to go.
"But the commitment and everything was there to see. Happy with the point, but at the same time we're disappointed.
"There's a lot of football to go. We want to climb up the table as far as we possibly can. We just can't wait for the next game."