Hearts kept their Scottish Premiership title ambitions on track with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Fir Park, maintaining a four-point lead at the top. The visitors, chasing their first league crown since 1960, fell behind for the fifth successive match when Stephen Kingsley turned the ball into his own net. Lawrence Shankland levelled just before half-time to ensure Hearts remain in control of the title race.
The result leaves Hearts four points clear of Celtic, who can reduce the gap to one point if they beat Rangers on Sunday. Derek McInnes's side could secure the championship at home to Falkirk on Wednesday, depending on Celtic's results in their next two matches. However, the manager was left frustrated after a controversial penalty decision went against his team.
In the second half, Alexandros Kyziridis went down in the box after apparent contact from Tawanda Maswanhise during a short corner. Referee Steven McLean, after reviewing the incident on the monitor at the request of VAR Greg Aitken, decided not to award a penalty. McInnes expressed his disbelief: 'I'm adamant it is a penalty. The explanation I got was that there's contact, but not enough. Anybody who's played football knows that because Kyziridis is sprinting, he doesn't need a lot of contact to go down.'
Hearts were also dealt a blow with serious injuries to key duo Craig Halkett and Marc Leonard, both suffering apparent Achilles problems. McInnes confirmed both are likely to face significant spells on the sidelines, describing it as 'a bad night for both lads.' Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou, meanwhile, defended the referee's decision, stating: 'There's a little bit of contact, but not enough to drop yourself to the ground like that. I was shocked he said no, but we've had so many crazy things against us this season.'
