Celtic stage Killie escape

Celtic dramatically recovered from three goals down against Kilmarnock to claim a 3-3 draw after a memorable match at Rugby Park.

Home side Kilmarnock sprung a surprise to find themselves 3-0 ahead by the half-time interval in Saturday’s Scottish Premier League fixture, courtesy of strikes from Dean Shiels, Paul Heffernan and James Fowler.

With just 20 minutes left to play the score was unchanged and it appeared Celtic were heading for a third consecutive away defeat in the SPL.

However, two goals in the space of three minutes from Anthony Stokes, one of them a stunning free-kick from 25 yards, got the visitors right back in the game.

As Celtic piled the pressure on, Charlie Mulgrew headed home in the 80th minute to ensure a remarkable game had been turned on its head.

It might have been so much worse for Celtic, with Heffernan guilty of squandering a great chance to give hosts Kilmarnock all three points in stoppage time.

But Neil Lennon’s men were rewarded for the comeback when league leaders Rangers dropped points in a 1-1 draw at home to St Mirren.

Hosts Rangers led at Ibrox through Nikica Jelavic’s 47th-minute goal and they looked set to collect all three points.

Steven Thompson though had other ideas, pouncing in the fifth minute of stoppage time to grab a draw for the underdogs.

In other matches, goals from Francisco Sandaza and Dave MacKay helped St Johnstone run out 2-0 winners in their match at home to Inverness.

Jamie Murphy’s early strike was enough for Motherwell to take all three points from their trip to face Hibernian.

Andy Webster and David Templeton were on target as Hearts downed Dunfermline Athletic 2-0 away from home.

Finally, Kari Arnason, Youl Mawene and Andrew Considine all netted goals as Aberdeen saw off the visit of Dundee United 3-1.