HT: Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Scotland at Tynecastle
Hearts have had multiple opportunities to increase their lead over Kilmarnock but whilst there remains just one goal between the teams the visitors will still feel they are very much in the game.
Fraser Murray has the better of young Adam Forrester down the Killie left-hand side and this looks like their most likely way forward.
St Mirren deservedly lead at the interval after some impressive attacking football.
Toyosi Olusanya's opener was followed by Mikael Mandron's first-time finish with both coming from Slobodan Rubezic failing to deal with the Buddies' physicality.
The defender then asked to be subbed off and vanished up the tunnel.
Aberdeen have had a few half-chances but there has been very, very little to shout about for the Pittdorie faithful this afternoon. A big second-half performance is needed from Jimmy Thelin's side.
Image source, SNSSt Mirren players have enjoyed their trip to Pittodrie so far
Jorge Grant catches Corrie Ndaba on the knee as the left-back flicks the ball around him, and now the Hearts midfielder is into the book.
It's become quite feisty, and John Beaton quickly blows his half-time whistle.
Hearts have been the better team so far but have shown Kilmarnock mercy when it comes to the final ball. Will that come back to punish them?
Craig Gordon has only been worked once or twice in the home goal, and Derek McInnes cut a particularly unhappy figure on the touchline.
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
That's a second booking for Kilmarnock, and both for bad fouls on Elton Kabangu.
The first was a cynical pull from Robbie Deas. The second was a full-blooded challenge from Kyle Magennis.
Kabangu is left crumpled in a heap.
Amy Canavan
BBC Scotland at McDiarmid Park
Andy Halliday's fourth-minute penalty splits the sides, who meet for the second Saturday running.
Sven Sprangler was penalised for a handball and the midfielder dually dispatched.
A much better performance from Motherwell here than last week, while there have been glimmers of goodness from Saints.
Image source, SNSAndy Halliday's converted penalty is the difference so far
A turgid game which came to life at the half hour mark.
Ross County were awarded a penalty - after a VAR check - for a handball by Nicky Cadden. Jordan White missed from the spot for the first time this season though.
Hibs made them pay when Nectarios Triantis teed up Dylan Levitt to stroke them into the lead.
Ross County 0-1 Hibernian
The Cadden combo almost makes it 2-0 to Hibs.
Chris Cadden swings it to the back post and twin brother Nicky controls it and smashes a shot towards goal but goalkeeper Jordan Amissah touches it into the side of the net.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Different defender, same Toyosi Olusanaya.
The St Mirren forward is alert and breaks in behind again but can't quite catch the pass before the onrushing Ross Doohan gets there first.
Stephen Robinson's side seem to have Aberdeen's number this season, that's for sure.
Lewis McGrattan
A goal from earlier - Lewis McGrattan gave Airdrieonians the lead against Dunfermline Athletic.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Slobodan Rubezic is off. The big Dons defender has struggled this afternoon and the TV cameras pick him up asking for a substitution before he heads straight up the tunnel.
Alfie Dorrington replaces him.
Dylan Levitt
Lovely finish from inside the box from Levitt, but it's beautiful from Nectarios Triantis to set it up.
The ball comes into the box and the midfielder flicks it up, controls the ball neatly and flicks it to Levitt while holding off a defender.
Levitt does the rest.
St Johnstone 0-1 Motherwell
St Johnstone support wanting a penalty of their own now...
A hand on the back of Max Kucheriavyi from Tom Sparrow sees the Saints player go down in the box.
It's soft and after a finger to the ear, Kevin Clancy waves play on.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Pittodrie
It looks like Aberdeen are going to their bench, Alfie Dorrington is getting stripped and ready to come on.
If I was to guess, I would say Slobodan Rubezic is set to be hooked.
George Oakley
Another Ayr goal, another George Oakley header.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Leanne Crichton
Former Scotland international on Sportsound
Call it what you want but they're left two for two. Olusanya and Mandron are not lightweight strikers, you've gone two centre-backs up against two very good central strikers.
That, from a defensive team perspective, is utterly shambolic. That is so naive, there's no leaders on the pitch that understand the vulnerability of that situation.
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
A mild dust-up here as Blair Spittal and Liam Polworth clash, following Cammy Devlin going down under pressure from Calvin Ramsay.
Sensible from referee John Beaton, who keeps his cards in his pocket.
Mikael Mandron
Superb work down the line from Olusanya to burst away from Rubezic and continue to out-muscle the defender before cutting it back to the unmarked Mandron.
The St Mirren number nine shows great composure with his first-time finish.
Aberdeen were left two-on-two at the back and looked bereft of ideas on how to deal with the two attackers.
Olusanya breezed past Rubezic who is having a torrid time of it this afternoon.
Aberdeen 0-1 St Mirren
Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Pittodrie
St Mirren are not giving the Aberdeen players a minute's peace.
They are snapping into the challenges all over the park and are clearly growing in confidence.
Image source, SNSSt Mirren's Marcus Fraser tackles Aberdeen's Jeppe Okkels
St Johnstone 0-1 Motherwell
Amy Canavan
BBC Scotland at McDiarmid Park
This has been an incredibly quick half-hour of play... and it's welcomed.
Not because the game isn't good, it's actually decent, but my goodness it is bitterly cold.
To give you an idea, I have four thermal layers, a snood, a hat, gloves and a big jacket wrapped around my legs in addition to the one I have on.
And half of Allan Preston's heater.
Freezing doesn't cut it.
Image source, SNSAndy Halliday's early penalty certainly warmed up the travelling fans
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
Jamie McCart has the ball in the back of the Kilmarnock net, but the flag is up quickly.
It comes from a Blair Spittal crossed free-kick.
The replay looks very tight... but the decision stands. No goal.
Ronan Hale's penalty earned Ross County a late point
Ronan Hale's 88th-minute penalty rescued a draw for Ross County at home to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on a difficult pitch in Dingwall.
Dylan Levitt stroked in the opening goal three minutes before half-time after brilliant work from Nectarios Triantis to set him up inside the box.
Ross County struggled to create chances in response, and it looked as though they would rue Jordan White's missed penalty when the game was goalless.
The striker's tame effort was saved by Hibs goalkeeper Jordan Smith, after Nicky Cadden was penalised when the video assistant referee spotted a handball from Noah Chilvers' cross.
But they were given a second chance from the spot when Kieran Phillips was felled by Smith, and this time Hale smashed the ball low and hard past the Hibs goalkeeper.
There was a frantic finish as both sides flung the ball into the respective boxes from set pieces in stoppage-time, but there was no late winner.
Hibs extended their unbeaten league run to eight matches and stay sixth, while Ross County are 10th, eight points clear of bottom side St Johnstone.
No ground has seen more goals after the 76th minute this season than the Global Energy Stadium.
County have scored seven of them and conceded 10, and manager Don Cowie will be relieved this time it was not late heartbreak as it was last time out against Celtic.
Hale took no chances when driving his penalty straight down the middle with real ferocity, with White having fluffed his effort in the first half.
Cowie will also be pleased at the impact of 19-year-old Robesten as he delivered a dangerous low cross which lead to the penalty, having played the first half of this season in the Highland League on loan at Brora Rangers.
Both he and fellow 19-year-old Andrew MacLeod were crucial in the move which lead to the equaliser.
Having been solid at home under Cowie's management they are now without a win in five in Dingwall while their away form has picked up.
The soft, muddy, and bumpy pitch which has been damaged by brutal weather conditions cannot be helping their cause, but they kept going and got their reward.
Hibs have let 18 points slip from winning positions this season, the most in the league.
The bulk of those were before November when they were bottom of the league and struggling, so the frustrating thing for Gray and his rejuvenated team will be the relapse into old habits.
They looked as though they had the perfect balance of grit, determination and quality on a horrible surface after Levitt got them in front.
It was a classy finish from a player whose Hibs career was petering out until recently, and Triantis showed his growing influence with another assist.
The way the Australian plucked the ball out of the sky from a corner, held off a defender and flicked it to Levitt demonstrated his quality.
They looked more likely to add to their lead than concede, but the tempo dropped in the second half and poor play from Smith to react late to a cross cost them.
The Hibs goalkeeper did well to save White's penalty in the first half and has been part of their turnaround, but there is still a sense it is a position of weakness.
Ross County manager Don Cowie: "It's an important point. We kept going right to the end and I'm delighted in terms of three academy products having a big impact in the last 15 minutes for us, so it's a big pat on the back to them."
Hibernian head coach David Gray "A point away from home is not a bad result especially given the pitch and the conditions.
"But once we got ourselves in front we were in total control and managed the conditions well. We played in the right areas and restricted Ross County to no chances bar the two penalties they got."
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 11 | 53 | 60 |
| |
| 2 | 23 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 18 | 26 | 47 |
| |
| 3 | 23 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 37 |
| |
| 4 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 36 | -4 | 35 |
| |
| 5 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 31 |
| |
| 6 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 35 | 37 | -2 | 30 |
| |
| 7 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 30 | 38 | -8 | 30 |
| |
| 8 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 27 |
| |
| 9 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 33 | -5 | 27 |
| |
| 10 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 43 | -19 | 26 |
| |
| 11 | 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 40 | -13 | 25 |
| |
| 12 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 27 | 48 | -21 | 18 |
|
Manager: Don Cowie
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Manager: David Gray
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Manager: Don Cowie
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Manager: David Gray
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Scottish Premiership
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Ross County have only won one of their last seven league games against Hibernian (D4 L2), a 2-1 victory at home in May 2024.
After their 3-1 win in December, Hibernian could pick up back-to-back Scottish Premiership victories over Ross County for the first time since October 2022, and first time within a single season since 2017-18.
Ross County have lost three of their last four home league matches (D1), as many as their previous 16 beforehand (W7 D6 L3).
Hibernian are unbeaten in seven league games, winning five of them (D2), as many as their previous 26 beforehand (W5 D9 L12). Hibs last went longer without losing in the Scottish Premiership in September 2021 (9 games under Jack Ross).
Hibernian’s Martin Boyle has scored a brace in both of his last two league games, while he last scored in three successive Scottish Premiership appearances in August 2021 (run of 4).
