St Mirren beat Hibernian with a dazzling display first-half display that pulls them closer to the top six, but needed to stave off a late fightback from the Edinburgh club.
An own goal from Ben Williams set the Paisley club on their way before two strikes in as many minutes from Newcastle United loanee Adam Campbell and Steven Thompson seemingly put the result beyond doubt before the half-hour mark.
James Collins pulled two goals back for Terry Butcher's men, but it wasn't enough to stop the visitors from taking the points in this Scottish Premiership fixture.
Aberdeen lost further ground on leaders Celtic when Danny Williams's first-half strike condemned the Pittordrie side to defeat against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Hearts fought back from 3-1 down to earn a late draw at St Johnstone in a game that saw three red cards.
Despite Steven Anderson's early dismissal for a poor tackle, Stevie May's hat-trick looked to have put the Perthshire club on course for victory.
However, goals in the final two minutes from Sam Nicholson and Danny Wilson earned the Jambos a point in a game where St Johnstone keeper Alan Mannus and the visitors Ryan Stevenson were sent off for fighting.
However, the result keeps the Tynecastle club firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, well adrift of safety.
Ross County picked up a comfortable 3-0 home win against Dundee United, who were without youngster Ryan Gauld, thanks to brace from new signing Filip Kiss with Yoann Arquin rounding off the scoring for the Dingwall club, who are now 10th in the table.
Partick Thistle were denied a win against Kilmarnock at home when Robbie Muirhead's 90th-minute goal cancelled out Kallum Higginobtham's third-minute opener.
Results in full: Aberdeen 0-1 Inverness CT, Celtic 3-0 Motherwell, Hibernian 2-3 St Mirren, Partick Thistle 1-1 Kilmarnock, Ross County 3-0 Dundee Utd, St Johnstone 3-3 Hearts
Chris O'Keefe
