Hearts 1-0 Livingston: Scottish Premiership leaders extend lead at the top with narrow victory
Report as Craig Halkett scores to help Hearts see off Livingston in a narrow 1-0 victory; Hearts have extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to six points ahead of Celtic and Rangers
Saturday 3 January 2026 20:44, UK
Hearts had to endure a fraught second half before securing a 1-0 home victory over struggling Livingston to extend their lead at the top of the William Hill Premiership to six points.
The Tynecastle side spurned a host of chances to add to Craig Halkett's 18th-minute header during a dominant first half.
And their supporters were put through the wringer in the second period as Livi piled on the pressure, with goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow pulling off a big save to deny Tete Yengi as they eventually held on to draw six points clear of both Celtic and Rangers.
Hearts made three changes to the side that started the Edinburgh derby defeat against Hibernian, including handing new Dutch right-back Jordi Altena his debut.
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There were four changes to the Livi side that started Tuesday's 3-1 home defeat by Dundee United, with centre-back Brooklyn Kabongolo pitched in for his debut after being loaned out to Arbroath in the first half of the season. New recruits Joshua Zimmerman and Emmanuel Danso started on the bench.
Livi got a couple of early sights of the Hearts goal, including a close-range Steve Pittman header that went just wide.
But the league leaders soon settled into their rhythm and proceeded to dominate most of the first half.
They almost went ahead in the 10th minute but Tomas Magnusson slid in at the back post and knocked the ball just wide after Lawrence Shankland had cushioned Alexandros Kyziridis' delivery back across the face of goal.
Claudio Braga and Kyziridis then both saw ferocious shots blocked in the box in quick succession before Kyziridis' effort was deflected behind as Hearts continued to turn up the heat.
The deadlock was broken in the 18th minute when Altena, who had enjoyed a confident start, whipped in a brilliant delivery from the right and Halkett arced home a looping header from 10 yards out.
The Jambos almost doubled their lead three minutes later but Jerome Prior made an excellent save to stop Livi captain Ryan McGowan heading into his own net. Braga then blazed an effort over after being released by a delightful pass from Shankland.
The visitors enjoyed a rare venture forward in the 25th minute and Yengi pulled a shot just wide from close range.
But Hearts, playing some lovely football, were soon back on the front foot and Magnusson saw a goalbound effort blocked by Kabongolo after some brilliant work on the right by Altena to set him up.
Braga then slid a chance wide of the near post after being teed up by Shankland before Harry Milne's header was brilliantly saved by Prior.
Having somehow managed to get in at the break only a goal down, Livi seized the upper hand in the second half and they almost equalised in the 65th minute when Yengi was denied by a superb save from Schwolow after getting himself free in the box.
The Lions were unable to capitalise on nerves in the home ranks, however, as their run without a win stretched to 19 games in all competitions.
What the managers said
Hearts boss Derek McInnes: "It's a brilliant three points in the cold light of day, going six points clear, getting a clean sheet and a brilliant goal from Halkett which shouldn't be forgotten about. It's an unbelievable header.
"We've got to be pleased with a lot of what was on show today. I think it shows exactly how difficult this league is at times.
"On paper, it's top vs bottom. We had such a dominant first-half performance but there's a consequence every time you miss a chance and don't get that second goal.
"Livingston have a brilliant character about them, brilliant determination, their manager got a hold of them at half-time and they were a different team second half.
"Us at our best today, we looked like a team who should be at the top of the league, really great to watch and us in our poorer moments in the game, the gap was too big.
"But there's not a team who's had a really good league campaign who don't grind out 1-0s. Sometimes 1-0s are the best ones. And what we needed to do was make sure we never made a mistake and certainly not get punished for it and we never really made any mistakes.
"The enjoyment doesn't come from the second half. There's no enjoyment where there's still work to do at 1-0. But the enjoyment comes with the three points at the end."
Livingston boss David Martindale: "Folk might look at that and go, 'Livingston weren't great the first 30 minutes', but I'd caveat that with, 'I thought Hearts were fantastic the first 30'.
"On Tuesday night, we let ourselves down badly. I asked questions of the squad and of individuals and I think they answered that today.
"I think they showed the fans, they showed me, they showed the people at the club that we're up for a fight. And they also showed today there's enough quality within this group to make sure we start picking points up very soon."
