Hearts were defeated 2-1 by Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday night as strikes from Matty Kennedy and Kyle Vassell secured the three points for the visitors after Alan Forrest had opened the scoring for the Jambos.
Neil Critchley made two changes from the Edinburgh Derby draw on Sunday as Adam Forrester replaced Dan Oyegoke at right back and Forrest came in for Yan Dhanda on the left wing.
It was the visitors who started the game the better of the two sides in the opening ten minutes, but it was the men in maroon who had the first chance of the evening. A lovely pull back from Kenneth Vargas found Blair Spittal on the edge of the box, his shot looked destined for the bottom corner, but Robbie McCrorie dived to his left to get fingertips on the ball and turn it round the post.
No defence in the league would expect an easy evening up against Killie’s front two of Kyle Vassell and Marley Watkins and the former almost opened the scoring on 18 minutes. Latching on to a ball over the top, the number nine lifted the ball over the onrushing Craig Gordon, but Kye Rowles got round on the cover to clear the ball off the line.
The Jambos were seeing plenty of the ball in the first period and they almost took the lead in fortuitous fashion on 25 minutes as Cammy Devlin let fly from distance, his shot took a huge deflection and missed McCrorie’s goal by a matter of inches.
The visitors were mainly threatening from set plays in the first half and a clever corner routine saw Danny Armstrong free on the edge of the box, but his low strike was comfortable for Gordon.
Just as it looked like the teams were going to be heading down the tunnel all square at the break, a quickly taken throw-in from Lawrence Shankland released Vargas down the right channel, his cross found Spittal, who had the awareness to shift the ball to his left for Forrest to finish high into the roof of the net to give the Jambos the half-time lead.
Half-time: Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
After that late first half goal, the men in maroon were out the traps fast after the break and after a VAR check for a potential Hearts penalty came to nothing, Shankland volleyed over after a nice bit of close control from the second phase of a corner.
Killie then restored parity out of nothing. Vassell forced an error in the Hearts backline and when the ball dropped to Kennedy, he fired the ball beyond Craig Gordon on 58 minutes.
The visitors completed the comeback five minutes later when a long throw-in found its way to Vassell. The big striker used his body well to spin and fire the ball into the back of the net from inside the box.
The men in maroon huffed and puffed after that and Barrie McKay, James Wilson, Yan Dhanda and Jorge Grant were all introduced as Hearts searched for the equaliser. The closest the Jambos came to a late leveller was when the latter cut in off the left wing and curled an effort on goal which was saved by McCrorie as the visitors held on to take all three points.
Hearts: Gordon, Kent, Shankland, Devlin (Wilson, 75), Rowles, Spittal (McKay, 75), Forrest (Dhanda, 84), Boateng, Penrice, Forrester (Oyegoke, 64), Vargas (Grant, 64)
Subs: Clark, Kingsley, Halkett, Oyegoke, Grant, McKay, Dhanda, Wilson, Boyce
Kilmarnock: McCrorie, Ndaba, Wright, (Burroughs, 69), Mayo, Deas, Lyons, Vassell © (Cameron, 83), Kennedy (Bainbridge, 83), Armstrong (Murray, 83), Watson, Watkins (McKenzie, 78)
Subs: O’Hara, Burroughs, McKenzie, Mackay-Steven, Murray, Cameron, Anderson, Wales, Bainbridge
