Manager Lee Johnson praised Hibernian for holding their nerve to see out a crucial 2-1 victory over St Mirren after admitting their “dominant” first-half performance “fizzled out” after the break.
Goals from on-loan duo Elie Youan and Will Fish gave the Hibees a deserved 2-0 lead at the interval before St Mirren threatened to claim a point in the closing stages after Alex Greive pulled one back.
“I thought we made hard work of it in the second half, we should have had more control than we did,” said Johnson, whose fifth-placed side closed to within a point of city rivals Hearts in the battle for European places. “We didn’t dominate the midfield at all and in the first half we were very dominant.
“A lot of the stuff we worked on through the week was executed to perfection (in the first half). I thought the ball speed and our passing and movement was good and we had good opportunities in the first half.
“In the second half, for whatever reason, we just fizzled out. Not enough were on their game but we continued to work hard.
“We shuffled the pack and changed the shape to cope with a St Mirren side who were throwing caution to the wind after the poor goal we conceded and in the end it was good to see it out. Even in injury time I think we managed it quite well.
“Overall it’s a great win for us, it’s an important win because of that fifth place but also we’re now chasing down everybody ahead of us.”
Hibs lost Jake Doyle-Hayes to a head knock in the first half and Johnson admitted the midfielder will need to be assessed.
“Hopefully he’s OK,” said the manager. “He had quite a nasty bump on the side of his head.
“I just hope it’s not concussion, firstly for him but also for us because he’s an important player. I thought he was outstanding until he went off.”
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson lamented the two goals his side lost.
“It was a disappointing start,” he said. “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, two individual errors have cost us.
“I’ll take my share of the responsibility. I want us to keep the ball from throw-ins, I don’t want us to just chuck it down the line, I want us to try and switch play. We got caught on it today.
“The second is a set-play where we let a runner go. They are goals we don’t usually concede which is frustrating.
“Our response to that was terrific. I asked them to go out and be brave and step forward and we should have taken something out of the game.”
Standard set for Clement as Rangers tee up Old Firm final clash
Phillipe Clement said Rangers' performance against Motherwell must serve as a reference for the rest of their season after they teed up a Scottish League Cup final clash with Celtic.
Rangers fought back for a 2-1 victory on Sunday, with Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami on target one day after Celtic trounced Aberdeen 6-0 in the first semi-final.
Dessers converted Connor Barron's cross to level things up in the 49th minute, then Bajrami saw his strike deflect home nine minutes from time to ease the pressure on Clement.
The Gers have endured a difficult Premiership season to date and trail rivals Celtic, who they will face in the League Cup final on December 15, by nine points in the table.
Clement, however, believes they can achieve big things if they replicate the performance they produced at Hampden Park on a regular basis.
"We can go where we want to be, which is the final," he told Premier Sports.
"We had that amazing feeling together with the fans last season and we can battle for that again.
"This needs to be also a reference game for this squad, for this new squad.
"To do what we've been doing a lot last season, to dig in and in every situation to keep our belief, to keep on going, to keep on fighting and to break the wall if we go behind...
"This can be a massive game at the end of the season to have this one as a reference. I want to see, every three days, this mentality."
Aberdeen deliver statement win over Rangers to keep pace with Celtic
Shayden Morris' winner helped Aberdeen defeat Rangers 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten run and stay level on points with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The hosts took the lead through Nicky Devlin after 31 minutes at the Pittodrie Stadium before Nedim Bajrami's individual brilliance saw Rangers back on level terms 18 minutes into the second half.
Celebrations soon resumed in Aberdeen as substitute Morris crashed in the winner 11 minutes later.
Victory sees Jimmy Thelin's side move nine points clear of Rangers, who sit in third, as they remain level on 28 points with Celtic, only behind on goal difference.
Celtic continued to add to that superior goal difference with a 2-0 win over Dundee at Celtic Park.
Two goals inside 10 minutes in the second half from Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels gave them a routine victory to keep them unbeaten at the top of the table.
Celtic return to Premiership summit, Rangers edge past St Mirren
Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a routine 3-0 victory at Motherwell, putting them back above Aberdeen on goal difference.
Brendan Rodgers' Bhoys had been knocked off the summit by the Dons' 1-0 win over Dundee United on Saturday, but they responded by easing to their eighth victory in nine games at Fir Park.
Luke McCowan steered in the opener on his first Celtic start, after Lennon Miller had twice struck the woodwork in the early stages.
Stand-in captain Alistair Johnston then ghosted in to score their second at the back post shortly before the hour mark, with Adam Idah adding a third before Motherwall's Liam Gordon was sent off in stoppage time.
That result piled the pressure on Rangers, who could have ended the weekend nine points adrift of the top two, but they claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory over St Mirren at Ibrox to stay within six.
Mohamed Diomande's powerful close-range finish put the Gers ahead, but Alex Gogic rose to nod in a St Mirren equaliser midway through the first half.
Vaclav Cerny spared their blushes, though, as he scored the winner following good work from Cyriel Dessers in the 69th minute.
Rangers go to second-placed Aberdeen, who are yet to lose this season, for a huge fixture in the title race on Wednesday.
In Sunday's other Premiership game, teenager James Wilson struck three minutes from time to rescue a point for Hearts in a 1-1 Edinburgh Derby draw at Hibernian.
Mykola Kuharevich had put Hibs ahead on the rebound after Marvin Ekpiteta headed against the crossbar just after the hour mark, but Wilson got the final touch to divert James Penrice's long throw home with stoppage time looming.
The result keeps Hibs rooted to the foot of the table with six points, though they are only behind 11th-placed Hearts on goal difference and still have a game in hand to come.
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