“The two teams from Glasgow have buckled under the pressure.”
That was the assessment of former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart after the Scottish Premiership title race delivered yet another weekend of high drama.
With Rangers held to a 2-2 draw at bottom club Livingston and defending champions Celtic beaten at home by Hibernian on Sunday, Hearts boss Derek McInnes must have been watching on with a big grin.
Having eked out a narrow win over Falkirk 24 hours earlier his side now lead Rangers by four points and Celtic – who have played a game fewer than the teams above them – by six with 10 matches left.
The other big winners over the weekend were fourth-placed Motherwell, with their 5-0 thumping of St Mirren.
Jens Berthel Askou’s side also have a game in hand on the top two, trailing Hearts by 10 points.
They have only conceded three goals in their past 15 matches and lost once in 19, all while playing the most expansive football in the top flight.
“Motherwell win emphatically, Hearts win as well and that applies pressure,” Stewart said.
“The two teams from Glasgow have buckled under the pressure today.
“It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Motherwell could finish above Celtic or Rangers, maybe both of them.
“Celtic and Rangers could be third and fourth in the table.”
Next weekend follows a similar pattern as Hearts and Motherwell play at home on Saturday – against Aberdeen and Dundee United respectively – before Rangers host Celtic in the derby on Sunday.
Motherwell could be just one point behind Celtic by then, while Hearts could be seven clear of Rangers and nine above Martin O’Neill’s side.
“It looks like Hearts can are the team that can only throw it away,” former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner said. “They are in an unbelievable position.”
Stewart added: “Everything is on the line. The permutations from all these games are incredible. That’s what makes this season so exciting.”
It is no secret things are far from rosy at Parkhead, with fan protests during almost every home match.
O’Neill is in charge until the end of the season – his second interim spell in this chaotic campaign – and cracks are starting to appear despite the Northern Irishman’s legendary status at the club.
Supporters continue to demand boardroom change, there are obvious holes in O’Neill’s squad and they have now lost seven league matches. That’s as many as they lost in the previous two seasons combined.
Celtic fell behind to Felix Passlack’s header and rallied to equalise through Benjamin Nygren’s 18th goal of the season, but went down to 10 men after centre-back Auston Trusty was sent off for violent conduct.
Kai Andrews fired in a late winner for Hibs, making it successive defeats for Celtic after Thursday’s Europa League reverse against Stuttgart.
“It’s a setback, that’s all it is,” O’Neill said. “We’re still in the race.
“I thought we were absolutely terrific. The players put heart and soul into the game. No complaints on that side whatsoever.
“We’ve been chasing for months now. There’s not much room for error but we can still fight back. The players are disappointed but it’s not over.”
Despite O’Neill’s defence of his players, others were less complimentary.
“It all changed with Trusty’s sending off,” Bonner said. “Hibs handled the game very well after that.
“Celtic couldn’t get any momentum and it’s a brilliant goal from Kai Andrews. Celtic didn’t create anything. They ran out of luck.”
O’Neill brought in Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka to bolster his attacking options in January, but Adamu was an unused substitute against Hibs and Mvuka wasn’t in the matchday squad.
“Without doubt, there is a lack of cutting edge at Celtic,” Stewart said.
“What’s up with Adamu? They need a goal and they put on [Daizen] Maeda, who is nowhere near the levels he was at before.”
While some would have tipped Hibs to get a result at Celtic Park, Rangers were expected to continue their excellent recent form at Livingston, who have won only once in the Premiership all season.
However, Marvin Bartley’s side profited from two set-pieces to take a two-goal lead.
Goalkeeper Jerome Prior made a string of superb saves and there were several last-ditch challenges as the West Lothian outfit kept Rangers at bay.
But Cristian Montano’s sending off on the hour mark sparked a Rangers onslaught and they drew level through Emmanuel Fernandez’s strike and Mikey Moore’s header.
There was late controversy too as Moore was wiped out by Cammy Kerr when through on goal.
Referee Ryan Lee gave no foul and VAR David Dickinson ruled the incident to be outside the box and not denying a goalscoring opportunity.
“It had a bit of everything,” former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson said.
“Livingston were terrific. Marvin Bartley will be delighted – he would have taken a point before the game.
“For Rangers – too much huffing and puffing, they lacked a little bit in the final third.”
Head coach Danny Rohl was baffled his side were not given the chance to take all three points from the penalty spot.
“I can’t understand when you see the replay and it’s a clear foul, then the decision. In my view it was on the line and it’s a penalty,” he said.
“It’s a clear foul. Mikey said to me and you see on the replay. It’s a pen but we have to move forward.”
Before next Sunday’s Old Firm derby, Rohl is relishing the run-in.
“We showed again our comeback character,” he said. “Ten games to go and it is an exciting race.
“We are disappointed but we go again. We have to carry on. We cannot think too much about the past and I totally believe, the players believe, the club believe and the supporters believe we can do it.
“We showed against Hearts that we can beat top of the league. Next week we have the next challenge. We will hunt again and again.”
