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Another late derby win for Heart of Midlothian, another late goal that sparked jubilation around the stands at Tynecastle, another Derek McInnes celebration with a ballboy.

Tomas Magnusson’s 88th-minute strike in Tuesday’s Edinburgh derby at home to Hibernian added yet more veracity to a title charge that few would have found believable at the start of the season.

It is not the first time this campaign when they have produced a moment of magic in the last few minutes, or even dying seconds, to fuel the fires of belief among their fans.

It is the habit of champions. The ability to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat, to conjure three points from the ashes.

Celtic and Rangers have done it plenty over the years – the former did it again in the Scottish Cup at the weekend – and now Hearts are showing they can do it too.

Boy did they need it after last week’s defeat away to St Mirren and with both sides of the Old Firm improving since changing their managers.

Defeat by Hibs would have given Rangers the chance to go top when they visit Motherwell on Tuesday.

Instead, with just 12 games to go, McInnes’ side, who have been out in front since September, are six points clear of Danny Rohl’s Ibrox side as they face a difficult away trip to the side sitting fourth.

You only need to look at the second round of fixtures in this campaign to find the first example of Hearts digging deep and finding a late winner.

It came at Tannadice, where Stuart Findlay popped up late to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Dundee United and give McInnes’ side all three points.

They did it again at the end of August, against Livingston, when Alexandros Kyziridis scored at Almondvale to secure a 2-1 win.

Then there was Craig Halkett’s goal in the first derby of the season, a 91st-minute strike as he slid in to connect with a Sabah Kerjota cross.

It is not just goals, either. Look at Craig Gordon’s save, away to Dundee, with the team down to 10 men after fellow goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow’s red card.

Holding on at 1-0, the veteran Scotland international somehow kept Emile Acquah’s header from ripping away two precious points.

To put a statistic to it, Hearts have scored 12 goals in the last 15 minutes of league matches this season. Only one side have scored more – Rangers.

“What we’ve got in abundance is a desire to make the game go our way,” head coach McInnes said. “Harry Milne’s desire to get the ball to the byeline, Tomas Magnusson’s desire to get on the end of it. That’s what I’m talking about.

The late goals are not the only habit that Hearts are forming. Winning the hard way, getting maximum points from a bare minimum performance, is something that title-winning teams do too.

“If you want to challenge for titles and win leagues, you have to win ugly, and Hearts did that tonight,” former Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew told Premier Sports.

He was not the only pundit to comment on Hearts’ below-par performance. While McInnes named an attacking side, they looked timid in the build up, struggling to stay calm in the typical chaos of an Edinburgh derby.

“They’ll not really care about the performance, they’ve got 12 games to create history,” former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson, who also had a hard job picking a man of the match, told BBC Sportsound.

“Harry Milne, for me, he tried everything he possible could to affect the game, to drive Hearts forward. Other than him, pretty much all of them were stinking.”

Well, quite. Scott Allan, the former Hibs and Celtic midfielder, was a bit more eloquent in his assessment.

“Tonight was such a big game and to not play well at all… I couldn’t see Hearts scoring a goal, I thought there was only going to be one winner and it was Hibs,” he reflected.

“To win like that, clean sheet as well, it says so much about what you’re building in there.

“Derek McInnes will not be worried about that performance. What a position that puts Hearts into, going into that game on Sunday.”

Ah yes, the game on Sunday. Rangers at Ibrox. Hearts won there back in September, their first victory away to the blue half of Glasgow since 2014.

No-one could have imagined then that, the next time Hearts came to town, the visitors would still have a lead over their hosts in the standings.

The unintended consequence of exiting both domestic cup competitions at the earliest possible stage and ending up with the smallest season games-wise since 1914-15 is that the remainder of Manchester United’s campaign is divided into blocks before a longer than usual spell without a game.

They are at the first now. It will be 12 days until United go to Everton.

For Michael Carrick, who was only appointed on 13 January, it is a good chance for his squad to “refresh”, to allow some players to “clean up their niggles and strains” and “take a bit of a breather”.

But it is also an opportunity to reflect.

Carrick did not try and claim Benjamin Sesko’s injury-time equaliser meant their 1-1 draw at West Ham felt like an extension of his four-match winning run, rather than the end of it, which it was.

However, he did acknowledge the overall assessment of the last month has to be good.

“In the grand scheme of things, we take the point, dust ourselves down a little bit and assess it,” he said.

Carrick’s initial victories over title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal were unexpected. The ones against Fulham and Tottenham were anticipated but did not arrive without problems that had to be solved.

Combined with the failings of Chelsea and Liverpool, the end outcome is United are fourth, with a handy, but by no means pivotal, advantage in the hunt for a Champions League return, something few could visualise in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s dismissal following the draw at Leeds on 4 January.

“We know how hard it is to put a run together in this league,” said Carrick, whose side are now unbeaten in nine league games, which spanned three managers, including initial interim Darren Fletcher.

“Sometimes it comes naturally, it flows and everything clicks. You look really dangerous and there’s a spark. Sometimes it’s a little bit stodgy.”

The question being asked of Carrick is whether his side can deliver winning performances against opposition they are expected to beat.

Many felt West Ham were in that category, even though Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were aiming for their fourth win in five league games and they had led Chelsea 2-0 in the one that got away.

Carrick did not manage a victory.

What he did do was take a risk to try and get something from a game that appeared lost.

When Manchester United drew against West Ham at Old Trafford in December, Amorim’s only substitution involving an offensive player was Mason Mount for Joshua Zirkzee, 12 minutes from time.

His last change was one defender, Lisandro Martinez, for another, Luke Shaw. Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo and young forward Shea Lacey remained on the bench.

At London Stadium, Carrick gambled. Not so much with Sesko, who replaced Matheus Cunha, who had been ineffective, a charge that could be levelled at all United’s attacking players on this occasion.

It was through his introduction of Zirkzee for full-back Diogo Dalot eight minutes from time where the risk and reward element came.

Carrick switched to a back three and pushed men forward.

He knew there was a chance of conceding a second. It didn’t happen, thanks to two superb saving tackles from another substitute, Leny Yoro, and a Senne Lammens save.

It meant as the clocked ticked past five minutes of injury-time played of the seven added, Carrick’s side still had a chance. Sesko’s brilliant finish ensured they did not head home empty handed.

“It’s always worth it to try and get something out of the game,” said Carrick of his substitution.

“We all want the perfect kind of performance, to be the best we can be.

“Sometimes it doesn’t quite happen, but it doesn’t mean you give up.

“Obviously we went for it, with three at the back and the rest all attacking basically to try and find that goal. That’s the way we should do it.”

It’s an attitude straight out of the Sir Alex Ferguson playbook. He was always prepared to gamble in order to get a desired outcome and felt it was why he enjoyed so many late successes in his stellar career.

An 87th-minute winner against Arsenal, a 90th-minute winner against Fulham, and now a 95th-minute equaliser against West Ham.

Carrick is pleased with 13 points out of 15 from his first block of games.

It is hard to think of a more contrasting scene at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

On a night Spurs manager Thomas Frank was subjected to humiliating chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” from a section of his own supporters, opposite number Eddie Howe was repeatedly serenaded by a buoyant away end.

Howe was even pushed in front of the travelling support by Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier to take the acclaim of the crowd after his side’s 2-1 win.

The Newcastle head coach is not usually one for doing so.

But he could not help but punch the air before waving his arms up and down as Newcastle supporters roared in response.

“That was a special connection,” he said. “I’m grateful it’s still there.”

Those words were uttered just a few days after Newcastle were booed off at St James’ Park following a 3-2 defeat against Brentford.

That was an evening a crestfallen Howe admitted he was not doing his job “well enough at the moment”.

It led to a lot of soul searching for Howe behind the scenes following just one win in eight games in all competitions.

“It was not an act,” he said. “That was me being very real and very genuine in terms of how I felt.

“I’ll say it again. I’ve got to believe that I’m the right person to be in the job with all the sacrifices that it entails and I’ve got to feel that the players are playing for me.

The sight of a number of Howe’s players struggling with cramp in the closing stages certainly told you they were fighting for him.

They were maxed out on a night some familiar names and some more recent additions delivered for Newcastle.

The club’s recruitment has rightly come under intense scrutiny – Newcastle have not seen much of an immediate return from a £250m summer spend – but three of Howe’s signings stepped up on Wednesday.

Malick Thiaw, the one undoubted early success, opened the scoring, the rapid Anthony Elanga put in his most impressive performance yet and Jacob Ramsey scored what proved to be the winner after netting his first goal for the club in the second half.

“I keep saying the lack of training is slowing their development,” Howe said.

“But they are beginning to feel at home in the team and once you feel part of it, and feel integral to how the team plays, you can only get better.”

Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa were left on the bench – just a few months after Howe spent £124m on the forwards.

That told its own story as the visitors lined up without a recognised striker for the second away league game in a row.

Anthony Gordon was instead tasked with leading the line on the road again after Howe took heart from the opening half an hour of his side’s 4-1 defeat against Liverpool.

Gordon put Newcastle in front at Anfield that night, but it was still a bold call.

However, Gordon, Elanga and Harvey Barnes aggressively led the press out of possession as they hunted down Spurs’ defenders and broke forward quickly with the ball.

There were still occasions where Newcastle were crying out for a poacher in the box to get on the end of a number of teasing crosses from Elanga.

However, the speed of Newcastle’s front line caused Spurs problems and Gordon’s dancing feet set up Ramsey’s winner.

Remarkably, it was just travel-sick Newcastle’s third away league victory of the season.

Newcastle have too often been soft, throwing away more points (19) than any other side in the division.

But this was an evening where they “really did inspire each other” following a difficult few days.

“If anything they used it in a positive way and reinforced relationships,” Howe added.