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A first-half strike from Barrie McKay was enough to secure a hard-fought 1-0 cinch Premiership win for Hearts over St Mirren at Tynecastle.
The win moves the Jambos six points clear of Aberdeen in the race for third place.
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson was sent to the stands for angering the officials as St Mirren went strong in the closing stages.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson was shown a red card by referee David Munro
The Jambos made two changes to the side that started in the 1-1 draw away to Saints last weekend as Alan Forrest and Cammy Devlin dropped out, with Andy Halliday returning from injury and James Hill making his debut after arriving on loan from Bournemouth this week.
St Mirren made three changes to their defence, with Ryan Strain out through injury and Marcus Fraser and Charles Dunne missing out through suspension. Richard Taylor, Declan Gallagher and Ryan Flynn were all added to the side.
The Buddies had their first goal in the 10th minute when the hosts failed to clear a corner but Curtis Main’s shot from 12 yards was powerless to trouble Zander Clark.
Hearts had plenty of the ball in the early stages but the first real chance didn’t come until the 18th minute when Robert Snodgrass’ free-kick from the left corner found Lawrence Shankland at the back post but the striker’s header was easily dealt with by Trevor. Carson.
The Jambos went ahead in the 29th minute when McKay produced a superb finish from the corner of the box after exchanging passes with Shankland and Halliday in the build-up.
McKay celebrates his goal against St Mirren
Hearts had a chance to double their lead in the 42nd minute but defender Taylor threw himself bravely in front of Shankland’s powerful angled strike from inside the box.
The hosts had more chances to extend their advantage in the early stages of the second half, but Halliday was dismissed after good work from Alex Cochrane to set him up before Taylor produced another good save to prevent Josh Ginnelly from taking a shot deep inside the area. box.
St Mirren were on top for much of the closing half hour and Greg Kiltie fizzed a shot over from the corner of the box in the 64th minute before fellow sub Jonah Ayunga saw a shot tipped low at the post by Clark six minutes later.
Hearts boss Neilson – who had previously been yellow-carded for disagreeing with an official – was sent to the stands in the 78th minute for making the “glasses” gesture to referee David Munro after rejecting Hearts’ claim for handball on a St Mirren player.
The Saints thought they were level in the 82nd minute when Clark made a second stunning save to deny Kiltie and then Main before Ayunga tapped home the rebound.
Hearts spurned a golden opportunity to ease the pressure in the 90th minute when Stephen Humphrys fired wide of the goal after being released by classmate and debutant Garang Kuol, but the Jambos held on in stoppage time with a vital three points. attempt to complete the third.
What’s next?
liver’ The next Scottish Premiership match is at home to Aberdeen on January 18.
St Mirren travel to Celtic on the same night. Both games start at 7:45 p.m.
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