VAR fury at Rugby Park and stoppage-time stunners colour Scottish Premiership Saturday

Vrancken bewildered by VAR as Hearts frustrated at Kilmarnock

Wouter Vrancken was left bewildered by the "strange" video assistant referee decision to rule out an early Hearts goal in their 1-1 draw at bottom-placed Kilmarnock. The Jambos thought they had gone ahead in the 11th minute when Laurent Mendy's effort – which appeared to be going wide – was diverted into the net by Killie defender Cathal McCarthy. But the VAR, Matthew MacDermid, advised Duncan Nicolson to rule it out as the ball had accidentally struck Mendy's hand.

Kilmarnock went ahead a few minutes later through a Jamie McCart own goal before Stephen Kingsley equalised in the 86th minute. Vrancken cited similarities with the recent incident involving Manchester United's Harry Maguire against Ipswich and felt Mendy's inadvertent handball should have been rendered irrelevant by McCarthy heading the ball into the net.

"For me, when it's such a clear situation, it's strange that the VAR comes in between and rules wrong," said the Belgian. "We had a meeting last week about the laws of the game and the refs did their explanation but when you don't see them applied in the game, then I'm thinking this is strange."

Boyle ends Hibernian's long Easter Road hurt

Martin Boyle ended Hibernian's losing streak at home after they fought back to claim a point in a 1-1 draw against Aberdeen. The Dons had gone ahead in the 17th minute with a composed finish from former Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet. Managerless Hibs – with John Potter in interim charge after David Gray's midweek sacking – looked bereft of confidence for long spells, having lost six successive games at Easter Road. However, the Leith side earned a share of the spoils when Boyle levelled from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute after Jack Milne dragged Jason Kerr to the ground.

Masked Westley stars as Dundee edge out Motherwell

Steven Pressley praised Joe Westley for the bravery he showed in playing in Dundee's 2-1 home win over Motherwell. The former Burnley striker fractured his cheekbone against Hearts a fortnight ago but declared himself available after deciding against having surgery. Instead, he played wearing a protective mask and notched Dundee's opening goal from the penalty spot before Bradley Fink doubled their advantage. Alex Lowry pulled one back for the visitors just before the break, but the home side held on to move up the table.

"Joe showed great courage. But he gave a wonderful performance, without any trepidation. Joe was fearless in everything he did and to score a goal is really important for him because he lives off them."

Goodwin's perfect tonic as Dundee United cruise past St Mirren

Jim Goodwin hailed his side's performance as the perfect tonic as Dundee United defeated St Mirren 3-0 in a one-sided contest in Paisley, with first-half goals from Jesse Randall, Lyall Cameron and Kevin Ciubotaru. It was Goodwin's first appearance in the dugout since a recent health scare, and the United manager said: "On a personal note, it was great to be back. Certainly the best medicine that I could have hoped for was that type of result and performance."

Alic's stoppage-time stunner rescues 10-man St Johnstone

A stunning set-piece strike from Enes Alic in the sixth minute of stoppage time secured a dramatic 1-1 draw for 10-man St Johnstone against Falkirk. Falkirk had taken advantage of Cheick Diabaté's 54th-minute red card to seize the lead through Ethan Ross on the hour. But Alic found the top corner from 25 yards to move Simo Valakari's side up to sixth place.