Hearts defeated St. Johnstone 2-1 in Perth this afternoon, courtesy of Kenenth Vargas’s second half winner at McDiarmid Park.
A Nicky Clark own-goal in the first 45 was cancelled out by a controversial VAR penalty early in the second half as Clark made amends with the equaliser from the spot.
Kenneth Vargas, courtesy of a brilliant Beni Baningime assist, netted the winner with a cool finish after 76 minutes to send the Jambos back to Edinburgh with a valuable three points.
Neil Critchley made three changes to the side that fell to defeat against Kilmarnock at Tynecastle on Wednesday night. Yan Dhanda and Daniel Oyegoke replaced Kenneth Vargas and Adam Forrester, whilst Beni Baningime made a return to action in place of Cammy Devlin after recovering from a bout of illness.
Both sides enjoyed periods with the ball in the opening stanza, both Saints and Hearts zipping the ball about as the pendulum swung from end-to-end on the McDiarmid Park pitch.
Nicky Clark cleaved a half-chance wide after a good block from Frankie Kent in the Hearts area, whilst Lawrence Shankland watched his low drive sneak inches past the post after a delightful threaded ball from Malachi Boateng in the build up.
Craig Gordon was called into action for the first time after 19 minutes, producing a fantastic stretching save to claw a Clark free-kick around the post from 20-yards out. The Scotland ‘keeper would soon watch a stray Graham Carey effort sail over his crossbar.
Hearts claimed the lead after 23 minutes, with some debate as to who got the final touch. Blair Spittal whipped a fine corner into the area, and as the ball turned towards goal, it eventually appeared that Nicky Clark steered it past his ‘keeper with his head.
Credit to the new look Saints under Simo Valakari, the hosts kept getting in Hearts faces and causing headaches. Adama Sidibeh sent a header crashing into the gloves of Craig Gordon.
Saints rarely troubled Hearts for the remainder of the half following this spell, going closest via Sidibeh once again – who launched into a mazy run into the area before sending a wild lash well wide of Gordon’s goal.
HT: St. Johnstone 0-1 Heart of Midlothian
The hosts emerged for the second half with renewed zeal, clipping the crossbar within minutes of the restart after good work by Jason Holt down the left hand side for Saints. Drey Wright then saw his low drive drag narrowly wide of the post as the Perth men maintained the offensive.
Sibideh then saw a deflected strike bound for goal clawed away at the last moment by another Craig Gordon save, before a spectacular ranged effort was also claimed by the Hearts stopper.
There was a twist in the tale after 66 minutes when, from a corner, VAR was called into review a penalty claim against the Jambos after Cammy Devlin was thought to have fouled a blue shirt.
Referee Chris Graham consulted the screen, gave the penalty, allowing Nicky Clark to step up and convert from the spot into the bottom right corner.
This setback wasn’t to deter Hearts who got their noses back in front after 76 minutes through Kenneth Vargas. A brilliant surging run forward from Beni Baningime broke through the Saints block, allowing the midfielder to slide the ball perfectly to Vargas.
Despite being under pressure, the Costa Rican kept his cool to slot the ball low and beyond the reach of Josh Rae in the St. Johnstone goal.
Vargas almost had a second in the final minutes of regular time after Blair Spittal sent a delightful lobbed ball forward for Kenneth to run onto. He broke for goal and took the shot with Rae making himself big to parry.
With seven minutes of added time, Hearts held on to secure three precious Premiership points.
St. Johnstone: Sinclair (Rae 45’), Cameron, Sanders, Holt, Clark (Smith 79’), Carey, Wright, Sidibeh (Kirk 79’), Sprangler, Kimpioka, Douglas
Subs: Rae, Essel, Kucheriavyi, Smith, McPake, Kirk, Keltjens, Bright, Franczak
Hearts: Gordon, Kent, Oyegoke, Baningime, Shankland (Grant 84’), Rowles, Spittal, Forrest, Boateng (Devlin 55’), Dhanda (Vargas 55’), Penrice
Subs: Clark, Kingsley, Halkett, Grant, McKay, Devlin, Wilson, Forrester, Vargas
