Scottish round-up: Hibernian heroics give Sauzee cause for optimism

If Franck Sauzee is seriously hated within Easter Road, then the Hibernian players delivered an Oscar-winning performance for the fuss they made over their manager on Saturday night.

The teenager Garry O'Connor sparked a public show of unity after his goal in the 1-1 draw with Celtic which, though it failed to bring a first win in 16 Scottish Premier League game, did restore the Edinburgh club's pride.

O'Connor and his team-mates – accused in one tabloid of being in revolt against Sauzée, whom, the report claimed was in jeopardy after just seven weeks in the job – raced to the bench and mobbed the former French international.

Sauzée became only the third manager to take any points off the champions-elect and, if John Hartson's second-half headed equaliser robbed the Hibs manager of his first win since replacing Alex McLeish in December, the Frenchman believes he sees light at the end of the tunnel.

"My players fought the way Hibernian did last season, and we were tremendous," said Sauzée, whose own absence on the pitch prompted the descent to second-bottom place, as Hibernian became a pale shadow of the team which finished third and reached the Scottish Cup final last term.

"I would like to think the Celtic game will be the start of something new for us," added Sauzée, "but especially for our fans, who were tremendous in their backing for us."

Sauzée also insisted he did not want to see the Scottish Football Association use video evidence to punish his compatriot Bobo Balde, even though television pictures show the Celtic defender used an elbow to hurt Paul Fenwick.

Shota Areveladze and Craig Moore delivered a boost to Rangers ahead of their CIS Insurance Cup semi-final with Celtic tomorrow by scoring twice inside three minutes to prevent Dundee from winning at Ibrox yet again. Gavin Rae's 70th-minute strike had threatened to secure a third win in three seasons for the visitors.

The Rangers defender Arthur Numan said: "We have to be realistic, it is difficult to catch Celtic in the league – but we are still in two cups and going another season without lifting a trophy does not bear thinking about."

Livingston's bid to earn a Uefa Cup place continued with Marvin Andrews and Francisco Quino securing a 2-1 win at Motherwell, while Eugene Dadi kept Aberdeen in touch with a 1-0 win at St Johnstone.