Ross County recorded another vital win in their battle to avoid relegation from the Scottish Premiership as they beat Dundee United 2-1 at Tannadice.
Jim McIntyre’s side earned their victory courtesy of Raffaele De Vita’s 72nd-minute winner, meaning they have now collected maximum points from six of their last seven games.
Jackson Irvine gave the visitors the lead with an 11th-minute header before Nadir Ciftci’s penalty nine minutes later restored parity. De Vita struck the decisive goal from a rebound as the Staggies held out to leave United without a victory in nine matches.
Aberdeen made a minimal dent into Celtic’s lead at the top of the table as they had to settle for a point from a tightly contested clash with Partick. The 0-0 draw reduces Celtic’s lead to seven points.
It could have been worse for the Dons, though, as Partick had opportunities to win the contest at Pittodrie. Two of them came during the first half, one of which saw substitute Lyle Taylor pass-up the best chance of the match for either side. Taylor, who had replaced Kris Doolan just after the half-hour, was through on goal six minutes before the break following a defensive mix-up between Ashton Taylor and Mark Reynolds, but his lob over Jamie Langfield trundled wide of the post.
Martin Canning’s awful run as the Hamilton player-manager carried on as he was sent off before his side surrendered the lead to draw 1-1 with St Johnstone.
Canning had not won in the 11 games since taking over from Alex Neil in January but Accies got off to a good start at New Douglas Park when their midfielder Ali Crawford opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a confident finish.
However, the Lanarkshire side were reduced to 10 men when Canning was sent off by Greg Aitken in the 58th minute for a reckless challenge on Michael O’Halloran.
Dundee’s manager, Paul Hartley, was happy with his side’s resolve as they fought to a 1-1 draw in tricky weather conditions at Inverness. David Clarkson gave the visitors the lead in the second half but despite a Graeme Shinnie equaliser two minutes later, Hartley was pleased with a strong afternoon’s work.
“We were better in the second half in difficult conditions,” he said. “The pitch was bumpy and the wind didn’t make things easy but we showed good character and spirit to get a good point.
“We’re still in the mix for that top-six place. We’ve given ourselves a chance and we’re happy with a point.”
