Eric Odhiambo opened the scoring for Inverness against Dundee United
Dundee United recovered from being a goal down to rescue a point against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
On-loan striker Eric Odhiambo opened the scoring for Inverness in the 16th minute with a close-range header.
Inverness midfielder Russell Duncan was ordered off in the 71st minute after he brought down Danny Swanson, who was racing clear on goal.
United equalised in the 79th minute when Lee Wilkie tapped in his fifth goal of the season from two yards out.
Craig Levein's side were aiming to hold on to their third-place slot in the Scottish Premier League table, while Inverness Caledonian Thistle were looking to extend their unbeaten run in all competition to three matches.
After just three minutes, Dundee United's Francisco Sandaza broke past Ross Tokely down the left-hand side and stabbed across a searching ball, but it failed to reach a United jersey.
Moments later, Prince Buaben fired in a shot from close range, but was thwarted by Inverness keeper Ryan Esson.
Odhiambo broke the deadlock with a simple header after Dougie Imrie had fed the on-loan striker a loose ball inside the United six-yard box.
Immediately after the restart, Craig Conway fired in a cross from the left and Jon Daly's header skimmed past the post with Wilkie failing to finish the opportunity.
As the half-hour mark approached, Conway flighted in a diagonal ball to the feet of Gary Kenneth in the Inverness penalty area, but a timely clearance by Lionel Djebi-Zadi stifled the danger.
Odhiambo could have doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time when Imrie rounded goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska and played the ball across the face of goal, but the Polish keeper scooped it back.
Following the half-time break, Daly got on the end of a goalmouth scramble and stabbed the ball goalwards, but missed the mark.
With 56 minutes played, Paul Caddis worked the ball down to the Inverness goal-line and fired a wasted ball across the face of goal.
Less than two minutes later, Imrie blasted in a powerful left-footed shot, but only managed to hit the side-netting.
Inverness were reduced to 10 men when Duncan was ordered off after he brought down Swanson with the former Berwick man heading for goal.
United's equaliser came when Warren Feeney headed down a long ball into the heart of the Inverness penalty area and Wilkie was on hand to tap into the net.
Moments later, Daly's replacement Andis Shala tried to spin on the edge of the penalty area and blast in a shot, but sent his effort wide of the target.
The German teenager passed up an opportunity to seal the win for Dundee Untied in the second minute of added time when he sent a sterling chance over the bar.
United kept up the late pressure on the Inverness goal, but failed to find the necessary winner to hang on in third place.
Inverness manager Terry Butcher: "We had opportunities, but I'm disappointed to lose a goal, as it's the first we've lost in two matches.
"The goal we lost was a bizarre one, and I think the referee looked at it and thought it had to stand.
"It's disappointing when you lose a goal like that, because United had applied a lot of pressure, but having said that, when you go down to 10 men against United, they put you under a lot of pressure.
"But there was a lot of spirit there, and we had to dig in really well, but we had one or two chances where we could have nicked it.
Dundee United manager Craig Levein: "It was a tough match, and we didn't play particularly well.
"I thought Inverness worked really hard, as I would expect with Terry recently taking over.
"It was a bit of a struggle for us all day, but the lads showed a bit of determination to get us back into the match when we were behind.
"What disappoints me most, is that we drew 0-0 with celtic in the cup, and we haven't had a clean sheet for a while.
"We need to get back to defending, because that's a lot of games recently where we've given ourselves a mountain to climb."
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