Hearts vs St. Johnstone. Scottish Premiership.
TynecastleAttendance18,678.
Report as Hearts make it three victories in a row with a 1-0 win over St Johnstone and former boss Craig Levein
Saturday 25 November 2023 21:08, UK
Recently appointed St Johnstone boss Craig Levein endured a fruitless return to Tynecastle as his former club Hearts eked out a 1-0 win to make it three Scottish Premiership victories in a row for the first time in almost two years.
Four years after being sacked by the Jambos, the 59-year-old was back in the technical area of a ground at which he spent the bulk of his career as a player, two-time manager and director of football.
For much of the first hour, Saints were comfortable and looked equipped to make it three games unbeaten since Levein took charge earlier this month.
But they were undone in the 61st minute as Hearts strikers Liam Boyce and Lawrence Shankland combined to force home the only goal of a tightly contested match.
Hearts made one change to the side that started the 2-1 win at Motherwell prior to the international break as Jorge Grant replaced Calem Nieuwenhof.
Levein made three alterations to the Saints side that kicked off the 1-0 win over Ross County, with Max Kucheriavyi, Dara Costelloe and Stevie May selected in place of Graham Carey, James Brown and Nicky Clark.
Hearts started brightly and went close to what would have been a stunning opener in the fourth minute but Alex Cochrane saw his shot from the edge of the box brilliantly saved by Dimitar Mitov after a lovely flowing build-up.
The hosts kept the pressure on and Mitov had to make another save from Liam Boyce's back-post header before Kye Rowles glanced just wide moments later.
Boyce then fired an angled shot into the side-netting after being slipped through just inside the box in the 11th minute.
Saints had been on the back foot early on but they found their way into the game and almost went ahead in the 23rd minute when Luke Robinson saw a close-range shot brilliantly saved by Zander Clark, who made his first two competitive appearances for Scotland over the recent international fortnight.
The visitors had another opportunity in the five minutes later but Matt Smith blasted wide after being set up by Chris Kane inside the box.
Saints made a change for the start of the second half, with Tony Gallacher replacing Andrew Considine.
The Perth side started the second half strongly and Smith saw a dipping cross tipped behind by Clark before the Hearts goalkeeper was forced to block a powerful Kucheriavyi shot from the edge of the box.
There was relief for the home side, however, when they made the breakthrough in the 62nd minute as Boyce's close-range effort, from a low delivery from the left by Cochrane, struck strike partner Shankland on its way into the net.
Saints were unable to muster a response as they slipped from 10th to 11th, while Hearts remain in fourth place, two points behind third-placed St Mirren.
Hearts boss Steven Naismith said: "A stat which I worked out earlier in the week which is incredible is that we hadn't won three league games in a row since January 2022. It's an incredible stat for a club like Hearts.
"We have done that today and we have now got to use that. As I said last week and the week before, we need to be consistent in keeping clean sheets, making chances, getting goals and winning games.
"So it's been a good afternoon. The biggest gripe is probably that we've not scored more goals."
St Johnstone boss Craig Levein said: "We were in the game at all times even after the goal, but what do you do with Boyce and Shankland if they get a chance?
"We tried to stop them getting chances and that was one of the things I was really pleased about.
"Apart from that opportunity we restricted them to very little but they're just so good at putting the ball in the back of the net. We fell foul to that today."
St Johnstone host Celtic in their next Scottish Premiership match on December 3, live on Sky Sports. Kick-off 3pm.
Hearts are away to Kilmarnock on December 3. Kick-off 3pm.
