( CNN ) -- Rangers kept their stranglehold on the Scottish title as a Lee McCulloch equalizer earned them a 1-1 draw against closest rivals Celtic in the Old Firm derby on Sunday . It leaves the defending champions seven points clear of Celtic , having played a game more , with the season at the halfway point . Ranger manager Walter Smith admitted his team had been fortunate to escape with a point at Parkhead with Celtic wasting a string of chances before Scott McDonald came off the substitutes ' bench to head a 79th minute opener . The Australian international converted from an Aidan McGeedy cross , but two minutes later saw McCulloch rise superbly from a corner to earn his side a valuable point . Rangers have 44 points from 19 games and Celtic 37 from 18 , but Celtic manager Tony Mowbray remained optimistic , saying that their city neighbors had denied them the title last term after coming from seven points behind . `` Undoubtedly , it 's less of a task than they had last year , '' he told reporters . The other game on a crucial Sunday in the championship race saw Hibernian and Hearts draw 1-1 in a bad-tempered Edinburgh derby which saw both teams end with 10 men and crowd trouble . Gordon Smith gave Hearts the lead on the stroke of halftime but one of their fans was ejected after a flare was thrown as the players left the field at the interval . Anthony Stokes leveled for the home side in the 54th minute , but three minutes later Ruben Palazuelos of Hearts and Hibernian 's Darren McCormack were shown red for head-butting each other . Hibernian stay third with 33 points and Hearts are fifth .
Rangers and Celtic draw two -1 in the Old Firm derby in Scotland . Rangers stay 1 points clear of Celtic at top of Celtic standings . Hearts and Hibs draw 1 -1 in bad-tempered Gordon Smith derby with 1 men sent off .