Louis Moult scored all four goals, including a first-half hat-trick, as Motherwell beat Hamilton 4-2 at Fir Park.
The 24-year-old had the ball in the back of the net after just eight minutes but his header was ruled out for offside. However, he did not have long to wait to open the scoring as he raced through a minute later to put the ball past Remi Matthews.
It was 2-0 to the home side shortly afterwards with Moult getting on the end of a cross to head past Matthews, and he completed a 13-minute hat-trick after 21 minutes when he was the first to react following Matthews' save from a Ryan Bowman effort.
Ali Crawford got one back for Hamilton and followed that up by having a free-kick tipped on to the bar a few minutes later as the away side fought back into the match before the interval.
Moult then made it 4-1 from the spot after Darren Lyon tripped Bowman before Crawford got his second of the match for Hamilton, but the visitors could not build on that goal.
With Celtic not playing Inverness until Sunday, Hearts had the chance to go top of the league if they could beat St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park but a Graham Cummins goal shortly before the hour mark ensured they left Perth with nothing.
Hearts enjoyed the better of the first half, but found Zander Clark in inspired form, with the goalkeeper pulling off a couple of saves to deny the visitors.
And the home side grabbed the only goal of the game when Liam Craig's low shot across goal was prodded home by Cummins.
Partick Thistle moved off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership after they came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The home side took the lead after 20 minutes when Kris Boyd fired past Thistle keeper Ryan Scully but the visitors were level shortly after the half-hour mark thanks to Steven Lawless.
Souleymane Coulibaly restored Killie's lead in the second half only for Liam Lindsay to pop up with eight minutes remaining to secure a point for the away side.
Thistle finished the game with 10 men when captain Abdul Osman was sent off in the 88th minute after picking up two yellow cards.
In the Scottish Championship, Hibernian were knocked off the top as their winning start came to an end after Ayr came from a goal down to beat Neil Lennon's side 2-1 at Easter Road.
Jason Cummings gave the hosts the lead before Marvin Bartley was sent off for Hibs. From there, the away team turned the game around with Conrad Balatoni levelling the score before Brian Gilmour sealed the win with 10 minutes remaining.
That allowed Queen of the South to move to the top of the Championship after a 3-1 win over Raith Rovers. Elsewhere, Dumbarton drew 1-1 with St Mirren while Morton beat Dunfermline 2-1.
Watch Dundee v Aberdeen on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD, from 11.30am.
EmoticonEmoticon