Celtic were unable to break down a stern Ross County side as the Scottish Premiership's basement side held the champions to a goalless draw at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon.
County started the match out of the drop zone, but St Mirren's 3-1 win over Dundee moved them above their fellow strugglers into 11th position.
Hamilton Academical could not jump to second as they lost 1-0 at Kilmarnock courtesy of a late strike from Alexei Eremenko, while a John Sutton penalty helped Motherwell record a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle.
Dundee United also missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Celtic after losing 2-1 at St Johnstone, who scored twice in the final 15 minutes to claim all three points on their own patch.
Results in full: Celtic 0-0 Ross County, Dundee 1-3 St Mirren, Kilmarnock 1-0 Hamilton Academical, Motherwell 1-0 Patrick Thistle, St Johnstone 2-1 Dundee United
