Celtic keep the pressure on Hearts

Celtic secured a crucial 3-1 victory over 10-man Motherwell to keep the momentum behind their Scottish Premiership title push.

The pivotal moment came with the sides tied at 1-1 in the 71st minute when Emmanuel Longelo was sent off after giving away a penalty to hand the initiative to Martin O’Neill’s side.

Tomas Cvancara netted the spot-kick and Yang Hyun-jun added a third to make the points safe. The South Korean had earlier equalised for the hosts in the first half following Elijah Just’s opener.

The result took the Hoops within two points of leaders Hearts ahead of their late kick-off against Kilmarnock.

Falkirk grabbed a late 1-1 draw at Aberdeen, Kevin Nisbet putting the hosts in front with 17 minutes remaining before Barney Stewart grabbed the leveller in the closing moments.

Bottom club Livingston continued their recent trend by earning a fourth consecutive draw, holding Hibernian to a 0-0 stalemate at Easter Road.

Jamie McGrath hit the woodwork twice and a 90th-minute penalty award was overturned by VAR as Hibs were unable to make their pressure pay.