Hearts take huge step towards title against nine-man Hibs as Rangers lose to Motherwell On Sunday, April 26, 2026, Hearts secured a vital 2-1 victory over Hibernian at Easter Road in the Scottish Premiership, moving three points clear of Celtic and four ahead of Rangers in the title race. The Edinburgh derby began with Hibernian taking an early lead through Martin Boyle in the seventh minute. However, the home side’s fortunes changed rapidly when goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger was shown a red card just before half-time. Three minutes into the second half, defender Felix Passlack was also dismissed, leaving Hibs with nine men for over 45 minutes. Despite the numerical advantage, Hearts struggled to break down a resilient Hibs defence. The turning point came in the 65th minute when Warren O’Hora scored an own goal after Lawrence Shankland’s flick found its way past the Hibs backline. Hearts continued to push for a winner and found it in the 86th minute through Blair Spittal, whose deflected strike secured the three points. The result was compounded by Rangers’ 3-2 defeat to Motherwell at Ibrox earlier in the day. Danny Rohl’s side had fought back from two goals down but conceded a late winner from Emmanuel Longelo in the final minute of normal time. The loss left Rangers in third place, one point behind Celtic and four behind league leaders Hearts. Hearts manager Derek McInnes made four changes to the side that had beaten Motherwell in their previous outing, switching to a 3-4-3 formation to counter Hibs’ setup. Despite missing injured players Oisin McEntee and Cammy Devlin, the Jambos adapted well to the tactical shift and eventually earned a hard-fought victory. With the win, Hearts strengthened their case to win the Scottish Premiership title for the first time since 1960. The team now holds a superior goal difference over Celtic and enters a crucial upcoming fixture against Rangers at Tynecastle with a four-point advantage. Hibernian, despite playing with less than a full side for much of the match, showed resilience but were ultimately undone by two defensive lapses. The defeat leaves them six points behind fourth-placed Motherwell in the league standings.
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