Rangers fought back from two goals down to keep their Scottish Premiership title charge alive with a frenetic 6-3 win at Falkirk.

Danny Röhl’s side trailed to goals from Ben Broggio and Finn Yeats in a shambolic first-half performance but Tochi Chukwuani gave Rangers hope with a controversial goal just before the interval. Three goals in 11 minutes early in the second half then turned the tide in Rangers’ favour. Youssef Chermiti equalised and Nicolas Raskin put Rangers ahead before Bojan Miovski grabbed the visitors’ fourth.

Calvin Miller’s penalty did not rattle Rangers as Chermiti and Miovski struck again to seal the points that propelled Rangers back to second place, just a point behind the leaders, Hearts.

Falkirk went ahead after just six minutes when Miller whipped a low cross towards Broggio, who easily evaded Rangers’ sloppy marking to slot home. The hosts doubled their lead in the 26th minute as Yeats rifled a powerful strike past Jack Butland from the edge of the area.

Chukwuani reduced the deficit in bizarre fashion in the 42nd minute, prodding in from five yards after Falkirk stopped in the mistaken belief that a cross had gone out of play before it was headed on to a post and rebounded to the Rangers midfielder. The video assistant referee checked the incident but Chukwuani was eventually able to celebrate after the replays proved inconclusive.

Chermiti hauled Rangers level with a simple finish from Djeidi Gassama’s 47th-minute cross and the stirring comeback was complete five minutes later. Raskin smashed a fine finish into the far corner before jumping into the stands to celebrate, in the process banging his head on one jubilant Rangers supporter.

It was not enough to force him off and Raskin played a key role when Rangers’ blistering spell produced a fourth goal in the 58th minute. Miovski bundled Raskin’s pinpoint cross into the net from close range.

Miller scored a penalty for Falkirk in the 70th minute after James Tavernier fouled Filip Lissah. Chermiti eased Rangers’ anxiety four minutes later with a thunderous effort from the edge of the area and Miovski tapped in the sixth in the 88th minute.

Röhl said: “We were honest to each other at half-time. I especially liked that the players were also honest with each other, which helps. I was able to give them some instructions and solutions.

“And in the second half, it was one direction. In three games, we have 14 goals now and nine different scorers. That’s also a statement. Of course, we also have to speak about the conceded goals because they were too easy. But overall, it’s great to see the group in this way.”

Celtic had temporarily moved into second in the table with a 1-0 win over St Mirren as Hearts scored two late goals to see them past Motherwell 3-1.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was on target after 15 minutes for Celtic, having earlier had a goal ruled out for offside, and it was fairly comfortable for Martin O’Neill’s side in the first half without creating too many clearcut chances, though St Mirren did look like a threat on the break.

Celtic’s goal arrived when Benjamin Nygren found CallumMcGregor . His shot was blocked by Alex Gogic and Kieran Tierney picked out Oxlade-Chamberlain, who rifled into the bottom-right corner. St Mirren offered much more in the second half, certainly in terms of possession, without posing much of a threat.

O’Neill praised his team for grinding out a win while not playing well, saying: “IThe energy levels looked low, which if it had been the last 10 minutes of the game, and you’re holding on to something, I can understand , but it set in pretty early in the second half.

“It seemed to befall a number of us at the same time, which is a bit of a worry. We’ve stayed in the hunt and in fairness to the players they did dig it out in the end. St Mirren played very well, particularly in the second half, and we just couldn’t get the elusive second goal, a wee bit like Dundee last week, but this time we created much less. But we stayed strong.”

After a goalless first half at Tynecastle, Emmanuel Longelo fired Motherwell in front only for Hearts to equalise through Cláudio Braga’s overhead kick. It looked as if the points would be shared before Stephen Welsh was judged to have fouled Landry Kaboré and Lawrence Shankland held his nerve to convert from the spot. Kaboré then added a third goal in added time to keep Hearts on top.

Their manager, Derek McInnes, praised his players for “dragging themselves off the canvas” with the two late goals, saying: “There’s no two ways about it – we were under the cosh. But I still felt quite calm in the sense I thought we would score. We very rarely don’t score, particularly here at Tynecastle.

“Thankfully Braga comes up with a big moment. The reaction of the players is magnificent. It’s exactly what you want. Nobody’s settling for a draw. To be fair, neither were Motherwell. They are a team that test your organisation.”

Stephen Robinson broke his winless run since moving from St Mirren to Aberdeen, his side winning 2-0 at Pittodrie against Hibernian with a goal in each half from Kevin Nisbet.

Zac Sapsford’s late penalty secured Dundee United a 3-2 win over Livingston in a thriller at Tannadice. The hosts took the lead in the first half through Will Ferry, but Livingston hit back after the break with a quickfire Lewis Smith double. The home side levelled through Krisztian Keresztes, but Sapsford grabbed all three points for the hosts from the penalty spot late on.

Kelle Roos had to wait six minutes for a VAR check before saving a stoppage-time penalty from the Dundee striker Joe Westley to earn Kilmarnock a precious point in their battle for survival, as an absorbing game ended 2-2 at Rugby Park.