A superb finish from substitute Luke Bolton, coupled with the brilliance of goalkeeper Benji Siegrist, earned Dundee United a dramatic draw at Easter Road.
The Swiss goalkeeper was in sparkling form against Hibs but was still beaten by a Kyle Magennis cross on 13 minutes.
United hung in there, though, and Marc McNulty was the provider with a cutback that came off Hibs’ Joe Newell and was then finished off at the back post by Bolton.
A string of Siegrist saves kept United in the game in the first half and they were much improved in the second.
They had to wait until the first minute of added time for the leveller and have kept their top-six place as a result.
The Tangerines welcomed back Calum Butcher and Nicky Clark into their starting side after periods of self-isolation. That meant Adrian Sporle and Ian Harkes dropped out of the team that kicked off against Rangers six days earlier. There was also the welcome sight of United assistant boss Stevie Frail in the technical area after recovering from coronavirus.
The brilliance of keeper Siegrist was required to save United after just three minutes.
A corner was delivered from the right by Malker Hallberg and headed goalwards by Christian Doidge. Siegrist somehow clawed the ball out with an acrobatic save.
Hallberg fired a freekick over as Hibs continued to dominate and it was no surprise that they took the lead on 13 minutes.
It was a terrible goal to concede from the visitors’ perspective, with a Magennis cross sweeping in from the left, just missing Doidge’s head and running straight into the far corner of the net.
United had a great chance to pull level on 18 minutes when Lawrence Shankland found space in the box after being picked out by McNulty. He was just too far to the left but still got his shot in, which was blocked by keeper Ofir Marciano.
They were under the cosh and it took a superb double-stop from Siegrist to stop Mark Reynolds scoring an own goal on 25 minutes then he saved again from Doidge just seconds later.
With 37 minutes on the clock, McNulty zipped a low drive past the posts from 25 yards as the Tangerines looked to get a goal back.
It was fitting that the first half was rounded off by more Siegrist heroics, the goalie coming out to face Martin Boyle and get enough on the shot to deflect it by the post.
It was the same pattern at the start of the second period, with the Hibees on the attack.
A Boyle drive was deflected past the post on 48 minutes before he was fouled by Reynolds, who earned a booking on 51 minutes.
Tannadice boss Micky Mellon made a double-substitution on 54 minutes when he took off Ryan Edwards and Nicky Clark and replaced them with Bolton and Paul McMullan.
There was a big shout for a United penalty just a couple of minutes later.
It followed a fine strike from McNulty that was pushed away for a corner. When the resultant corner wasn’t cleared McNulty sent a diving header goalwards only for it to be blocked. The handball appeals came thick and fast but referee Gavin Duncan gave a corner instead.
The Tangerines then replaced Jeando Fuchs with Peter Pawlett as they tried to salvage something from the game but it was Hibs who came close when Kevin Nisbet blasted a shot just wide after Boyle’s cutback.
After Doidge fired wide but was awarded a corner, up at the other end McNulty’s strike was deflected well.
Then came the late drama, with Bolton joining Siegrist as a hero of the hour.
Hibs: Marciano, Hanlon, Porteous, P. McGinn, Magennis (Wright 65), Doidge, Boyle, Newell, Nisbet, Stevenson, Hallberg (Gogic 71). Subs not used: Barnes, Gray, Gullan, S. McGinn, McGregor, Doig, Bradley.
Dundee United: Siegrist, Smith, Connolly, Reynolds, McNulty, Clark (McMullan 54), Edwards (Bolton 54), Robson, Butcher, Shankland, Fuchs (Pawlett 69). Subs not used: Deniz, Sporle, Powers, Harkes, Appere, Neilson.
Referee: Gavin Duncan.