Theo Bair scored against his former club as Motherwell hit back to draw 1-1 at St Johnstone.
Saints took an early lead when Ryan McGowan’s goal was allowed to stand, despite Andy Considine appearing to be in an offside position.
The Steelmen reacted well to falling behind and levelled just before the half-hour mark as Bair nodded in Blair Spittal’s cross.
Motherwell had the better of the chances in the second half but lacked the cutting edge required to earn their first away win since September.
Both sides have increased their lead over Ross County in 11th place to three points, with their advantage over basement boys Livingston now nine points.
St Johnstone made two changes to the side that drew with Aberdeen in midweek, Max Kucheriavyi and Benjamin Kimpioka coming in for Diallang Jaiyesimi and Sven Sprangler.
Stuart Kettlewell handed Andy Halliday his first start for the Steelmen, the midfielder replacing Adam Montgomery who suffered a hamstring injury in training that is set to rule him out for around three months.
The hosts opened the scoring after three minutes with the first meaningful attack of the match.
Kucheriavyi’s cross was steered home by McGowan and there was no offside flag, despite Liam Kelly’s view being hampered by Considine, who looked to be offside.
The Motherwell players appealed in unison for offside and Kelly was shown a yellow card for his reaction in the aftermath, with the goal given following a lengthy VAR check.
Georgie Gent sliced an effort wide as Motherwell looked for an instant reply and the full-back was involved again when he fired a tantalising ball across the face of goal that narrowly evaded Stephen O’Donnell.
It took a fantastic stop from Dimitar Mitov to keep out Bair’s close-range effort, but the former Saints striker was not to be denied.
Spittal sent over an inch-perfect delivery and Bair’s glancing header went in off the inside of a post.
Saints were dealt a blow when Liam Gordon hobbled off with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Saints skipper being replaced by Jaiyesimi.
Kimpioka came close to restoring St Johnstone’s lead when he raced on to Dan Phillips’ defence splitting pass and lifted the ball over Kelly, but the effort drifted behind for a goal-kick.
There were chances at either end as the second half began at a frantic pace.
Kimpioka worked Kelly after being released by Matt Smith and Spittal failed to make proper contact with O’Donnell’s low cross a few minutes later.
Jaiyesimi should have done better when he met Graham Carey’s cross on the hour mark but sent his header wide of the target.
Motherwell were looking threatening on the counter-attack and Gent fired over the top before Harry Paton skewed wide after a well-worked passing move.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure and Mitov gathered Spittal’s free-kick at the second time of asking before Kettlewell introduced new signing Sam Nicholson for the final nine minutes as he sought a winner.
The substitute made an impact almost immediately when he split the home defence with a superb pass with the outside of his foot and Paton burst past Mitov, only to be let down by a heavy touch.
The hosts had rarely threatened in the second half, but they could have clinched victory in the final minutes as Jaiyesimi got on the end of Smith’s cross. However, he could only a muster a weak header into the grateful arms of the Well keeper.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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