Andrew Shinnie scored a late equaliser as 10-man Livingston fought back at home against Motherwell to secure a 1-1 draw in the cinch Premiership.
Shinnie’s 84th-minute strike, after being set up by skipper Nicky Devlin, capped off a resilient second-half display for the hosts.
Kevin van Veen scored the game’s opening goal just two minutes into the contest from close range, equalling the club record set by Hugh Ferguson 103 years ago by scoring in his 10th consecutive match.
Livingston’s goalkeeper Shamal George was sent off after 43 minutes following a collision with Van Veen outside of the area, but the hosts rallied to secure a late point.
Mikael Mandron cushioned the ball down and Van Veen fired home from inside the box to give Motherwell an early lead.
Despite both sides’ safety guaranteed and seventh place being all that was on the line, the game developed into an end-to-end affair.
David Martindale’s side showed their attacking impetus as they pushed for an equaliser before the interval, with two strikes from Stephen Kelly going close.
A whipped delivery from Paul McGinn failed to find Mandron but the attempted clearance fell kindly for Van Veen, whose powerful strike was blocked before Kelly again went close at the other end, only for his attempt to narrowly fizz over the bar.
As Motherwell tried to double their advantage, Van Veen raced onto a looping through ball and was clattered by the onrushing George.
After initially being shown a yellow card and the flag being raised for offside, a lengthy VAR check resulted in referee Chris Graham consulting the pitch-side monitor before dismissing the keeper.
After the interval Livingston continued to push for a leveller despite their numerical disadvantage, with Anderson’s deflected effort falling kindly for Luiyi De Lucas, but the defender’s strike was well defended.
Much of the second half failed to match the first 45’s back and forth despite the man advantage for the visitors never becoming overly apparent as the hosts dug deep to find a route back into the game.
Their persistence paid off late on when Devlin slid the ball across the box for Shinnie to thump in the equaliser in what is set to be his final home appearance as the club’s captain.
A late shot from Blair Spittal was dragged wide as both sides were left ruing missed opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
Rodgers hits back at criticism as Rangers triumph puts Celtic on brink of title
Brendan Rodgers hit back at his critics after Celtic overcame Rangers to put one hand on the Scottish Premiership title, with the Bhoys manager suggesting he had been treated "like a novice".
Rodgers' side moved six points clear of Rangers after Saturday's 2-1 victory at Parkhead, needing only a point ahead of Wednesday's trip to Kilmarnock to secure the top-flight trophy.
Soon-to-be champions Celtic have struggled at times after Rodgers' return to the club, though the former Liverpool boss has been hampered by injuries to numerous key players.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda have all suffered from fitness struggles this term, though Celtic have still responded to move within touching distance of the title.
Earlier in the season, former Celtic striker Chris Sutton suggested Rodgers was "going through the motions" after defeats against Hearts and Kilmarnock – and Rodgers clearly took note of those comments.
"From a professional perspective there will be doubt," Rodgers told his post-match press conference after downing Rangers.
"From a personal perspective, I am surprised in a way where I heard somebody saying 'Brendan Rodgers was going through the motions' earlier in the season.
"Now, I get to work between half seven and eight o'clock every day of my life. I leave the training ground between half six and seven o'clock at night. And then when I get home, I have my dinner and probably flip on the computer and watch more football.
"Now, if that's going through the motions, I want to know what every other manager is doing. So, from a personal level, I have been treated like a novice since I've come back here. Like it's my first job.
"However, my first objective is to make sure Celtic win. Part of that is a part of the criticism and I understand that.
"But it's the mentality of the team that is most important to me, and that mentality you can see from where we were, with injuries, how we progressed, how we stayed unified and together, and how we then get to this point where we are nearly crossing the finishing line.
"And we don't just want to cross it, we want to sprint over it. We have two games to go, plus a final, and that is our mentality."
Rodgers and Celtic's celebrations could start sooner than Wednesday, if Rangers fail to beat Dundee the day before.
Another title would mark Celtic's 54th Scottish Premiership trophy and their 12th in the last 13 seasons.
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
'We are nearly there!' – Rodgers revels in huge Old Firm win as Celtic close in on title
In an Old Firm derby that was almost certain to decide the Scottish Premiership title race, the drama did not disappoint at Celtic Park as Brendan Rodgers savoured a pivotal 2-1 victory over rivals Rangers.
Rodgers’ side began Saturday three points ahead of their rivals with three games to go, and they are now six clear with two to play, meaning a 12th title in 13 years is all but secured.
Rangers battled hard but ultimately left themselves with too much to do.
John Lundstram was at the heart of the drama towards the end of the first half, doubling Celtic’s lead with an own goal shortly before he was sent off after a VAR review.
Rangers have scored in 33 of their 36 games, more often than any other team this season, and Cyril Dessers was on target to get one back, Matt O'Riley having earlier put the hosts ahead.
However, Rangers only attempted eight shots in the game, their lowest total in a single Premiership match this season.
Philippe Clement felt like his side were always in the contest despite going down to 10 men, but he was disappointed with the rash decision from Lundstram to make an ill-advised challenge on Alistair Johnston.
The Belgian told Sky Sports: "We didn’t start well enough – we were not good enough and giving away too many shots.
"We started to play after 2-0 and then we did good things, a few good crosses, but then of course taking a red card makes things ten times more complicated for us.
"After the red card my team kept on fighting, but the red card kills off our plan for the second half.
"It is totally unnecessary to make the tackle. It is a split-second wrong decision, but I do not forget all the things he [Lundstram] did well in the last couple of months.
"The team need to show the mentality they showed for the last 70 minutes because the first 20 was not good enough. They need to show it for 90.
"In the next two games and the Scottish Cup final it is important to show a reaction."
Rodgers' side will travel to Kilmarnock for their penultimate league match of the season on Wednesday, now only needing one point to secure the title with a match to spare.
Reflecting on a vital win that came despite O'Riley having a second-half penalty saved by Jack Butland, the Celtic boss said: "It is very significant, we are nearly there!
"Three points and another goal to the goal difference [advantage], so it’s a fantastic win. Right up until the penalty we were very good, the energy and the speed was outstanding. It was a brilliant day.
"Celtic supporters all around the world in bars and houses, they understand Celtic-Rangers is all about winning.
"The guys showed a great mentality and it’s three victories against Rangers in four games now.
"The crispness and quality of football was very good. They showed great courage. It’s there for us now, we’ve got to go on and win it."
Celtic have avoided defeat in all four Old Firm derbies in the Scottish Premiership this season (W3 D1), doing so for the first time since 2017-18.
The teams will still meet again this season, with the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park scheduled for May 25.
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