HEARTS 2 ST MIRREN 0: DOWN TO 10 MEN AGAIN BUT MCINNES' SIDE BATTLE TO KEEP TITLE CHARGE ON TRACK
As the chants of ‘We shall not be moved’ rang loud and lustily into the damp but electric Gorgie night air, who could dispute the growing belief of Hearts supporters that they are witnessing a truly historic season?
Faced by adversity for the second game in a row by a first half sending-off, this time for midfielder Beni Baningime after just 15 minutes, they again responded in the manner of potential champions.
Lawrence Shankland’s 14th goal of the season and a late strike from Tomas Magnusson ensured a six-point lead at the top of the Premiership over both Celtic and Rangers.
The Old Firm will clearly still have a major say in this remarkable title race but Derek McInnes’ men are going to take some shifting.
St Mirren had already proved obdurate opponents for Hearts this season, knocking them out of the Premier Sports Cup and holding them to a draw in two previous clashes in Paisley.
As soon as Baningime made his early departure from proceedings, it was clear this was going to be another troublesome evening for McInnes to contend with.
They had been the dominant side before being reduced to 10 men, passing and pressing with high energy in front of yet another sell-out crowd at Tynecastle.
Blair Spittal, handed a rare start, was eager to impress and sparked Hearts’ first raid on goal when he robbed Killian Phillips and played a sharp exchange of passes with Shankland before sprinting clear down the right.
Spittal tried to pick out Shankland with his low cutback but Phillips got back to intercept and atone for his earlier slackness.
It was possible to have some sympathy for Baningime in the context of the position he found himself in when Stuart Findlay was woefully short with what should have been a simple pass to the midfielder in an unthreatening situation.
It left Baningime having to suddenly stretch in his attempt to win the ball ahead of Idowu but he mistimed the challenge badly and caught the St Mirren player high on his calf.
Referee Kevin Clancy initially flourished a yellow card but after being invited to review it by VAR, he correctly upgraded it to red.
As Hearts looked to reorganise, St Mirren looked to capitalise. Idowu thought he had done just that in the 21st minute when he curled a sumptuous right foot shot in off Craig Gordon’s left hand post from the corner of the penalty area, only for an offside in the build-up to cut his celebrations short.
Harry Milne, making an unexpectedly early return to the starting line-up after fears an ankle injury would entail a lengthy lay-off, got Hearts back onto the front foot when he surged into space down the left.
The full-back’s cross found Claudio Braga at the near post but the forward, under pressure from Richard King, couldn’t squeeze his shot on target.
King’s misjudgement of a harmless looking through ball presented Braga with another sight of goal but this time he scooped his shot over from around 14 yards.
The tension inside Tynecastle was almost tangible as the home support waited to see how their team would cope with this latest test of their title credentials.
St Mirren inevitably were able to provide a greater attacking threat and Gordon got down sharply to hold a low shot from distance by Mikael Mandron.
The visitors had the ball in the net again in the 31st minute when a long ball from King caused mayhem in the Hearts penalty area. Alex Gogic’s miscued shot broke to Idowu whose effort was well saved by Gordon, only for the ball to ricochet off Milne and beyond the veteran keeper. After a lengthy VAR check, Hearts were spared by a tight offside decision.
The league leaders should have made the breakthrough just before the interval. That they didn’t came of huge relief to Oisin Smyth, the St Mirren midfielder who was straight back into their starting line-up after being recalled from his loan at Partick Thistle this week.
Smyth dallied needlessly in possession on the edge of his own penalty area and had his pocket picked by Alexandros Kyziridis.
The Greek winger found himself one-on-one with Shamal George but couldn’t find a way past the Saints keeper who then got up to his feet quickly to complete a brilliant double save by turning Braga’s follow-up effort wide.
Hearts began the second half with renewed vitality and suddenly looked like they were the team with an extra man.
Shankland was leading by example and his clever movement set up another decent chance for Kyziridis whose shot from the right corner of the penalty area was deflected narrowly off target.
George then came to St Mirren’s rescue again as Hearts continued to probe. Braga burst down the left and fired the ball low across the face of the six-yard box. Shankland looked certain to score as he slid in but George reacted brilliantly to make the save.
Shankland wasn’t going to be denied, however, and Hearts pressure paid off when he put them in front on the hour mark.
The goal owed much to the incredible tenacity of Cammy Devlin. The Australian midfielder has been integral to their progress this season and he won the ball in a tight situation to start the move which led to the goal.
It eventually fell to Spittal on the right and his low cross was turned home with composure and precision by Shankland.
St Mirren missed a glorious opportunity to hit back immediately when Declan John’s corner picked out the unmarked Gogic who headed wide from close range.
Hearts, unsurprisingly feeling the effects of their efforts with 10 men, were gradually forced onto the back foot and McInnes sent on extra defenders in the shape of Jamie McCart and Frankie Kent as he looked to shut up shop.
Just when it seemed the home fans were in for a nerve-jangling finale to the contest, however, Hearts doubled their lead on the counter attack in the 80th minute.
Magnusson, who had also been summoned from the bench by McInnes, found Milne inside the box and when George could only parry the left-back’s shot, the Icelandic international had followed up and was on hand to head home from a few yards out.
Jubilation for Hearts, despair for Saints whose fourth defeat in a row sees them slide perilously closer to a relegation battle.
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