Scottish Premiership roundup: Motherwell beat Hearts to remain third

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 11 January 2014

In the Scottish Premiership, Motherwell beat Hearts 1-0 at Tynecastle to stay third, while Partick Thistle and Ross County battle to a 3-3 draw.

Motherwell remain third in the Scottish Premiership table despite beating Hearts 1-0 at Tynecastle.

The hosts took the lead midway through the first half, courtesy of John Sutton, who crept in behind the Hearts defence to evade goalkeeper Jamie Macdonald and score.

Hearts improved in the second half, with Ryan Stevenson's cross hitting the woodwork, but Motherwell hung on for the win.

Aberdeen's 1-0 defeat of Hibernian on Friday, however, meant the Dons would remain in second place behind Celtic instead of the Steelmen. Hearts remain bottom, 20 points adrift at the foot of the table.

Elsewhere, Partick Thistle and Ross County battled to an emphatic 3-3 draw at the Firhill Stadium.

Filip Kiss scored twice on his debut as County hit back from two goals down. The Slovak, on loan from Cardiff City, fired the Highlanders ahead, but a double from Lyle Taylor put the hosts in front before the interval.

Steven Lawless increased the Jags' advantage, only for Ben Gordon to reply. Kiss then grabbed his second goal on 76 minutes and the visitors held on for a share of the spoils after Stuart Kettlewell's red card.

Meanwhile, St Johnstone crept back into the top six of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-0 home win against St Mirren.

Results in full: Hearts 0-1 Motherwell, Partick Thistle 3-3 Ross County, St Johnstone 2-0 St Mirren