HT: Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Scotland at Tynecastle
Hearts have had multiple opportunities to increase their lead over Kilmarnock but whilst there remains just one goal between the teams the visitors will still feel they are very much in the game.
Fraser Murray has the better of young Adam Forrester down the Killie left-hand side and this looks like their most likely way forward.
St Mirren deservedly lead at the interval after some impressive attacking football.
Toyosi Olusanya's opener was followed by Mikael Mandron's first-time finish with both coming from Slobodan Rubezic failing to deal with the Buddies' physicality.
The defender then asked to be subbed off and vanished up the tunnel.
Aberdeen have had a few half-chances but there has been very, very little to shout about for the Pittdorie faithful this afternoon. A big second-half performance is needed from Jimmy Thelin's side.
Image source, SNSSt Mirren players have enjoyed their trip to Pittodrie so far
Jorge Grant catches Corrie Ndaba on the knee as the left-back flicks the ball around him, and now the Hearts midfielder is into the book.
It's become quite feisty, and John Beaton quickly blows his half-time whistle.
Hearts have been the better team so far but have shown Kilmarnock mercy when it comes to the final ball. Will that come back to punish them?
Craig Gordon has only been worked once or twice in the home goal, and Derek McInnes cut a particularly unhappy figure on the touchline.
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
That's a second booking for Kilmarnock, and both for bad fouls on Elton Kabangu.
The first was a cynical pull from Robbie Deas. The second was a full-blooded challenge from Kyle Magennis.
Kabangu is left crumpled in a heap.
Amy Canavan
BBC Scotland at McDiarmid Park
Andy Halliday's fourth-minute penalty splits the sides, who meet for the second Saturday running.
Sven Sprangler was penalised for a handball and the midfielder dually dispatched.
A much better performance from Motherwell here than last week, while there have been glimmers of goodness from Saints.
Image source, SNSAndy Halliday's converted penalty is the difference so far
A turgid game which came to life at the half hour mark.
Ross County were awarded a penalty - after a VAR check - for a handball by Nicky Cadden. Jordan White missed from the spot for the first time this season though.
Hibs made them pay when Nectarios Triantis teed up Dylan Levitt to stroke them into the lead.
Ross County 0-1 Hibernian
The Cadden combo almost makes it 2-0 to Hibs.
Chris Cadden swings it to the back post and twin brother Nicky controls it and smashes a shot towards goal but goalkeeper Jordan Amissah touches it into the side of the net.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Different defender, same Toyosi Olusanaya.
The St Mirren forward is alert and breaks in behind again but can't quite catch the before the onrushing Ross Doohan gets there first.
Stephen Robinson's side seem to have Aberdeen's number this season, that's for sure.
Lewis McGrattan
A goal from earlier - Lewis McGrattan gave Airdrieonians the lead against Dunfermline Athletic.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Slobodan Rubezic is off. The big Dons defender has struggled this afternoon and the TV cameras pick him up asking for a substitution before he heads straight up the tunnel.
Alfie Dorrington replaces him.
Dylan Levitt
Lovely finish from inside the box from Levitt, but it's beautiful from Nectarios Triantis to set it up.
The ball comes into the box and the midfielder flicks it up, controls the ball neatly and flicks it to Levitt while holding off a defender.
Levitt does the rest.
St Johnstone 0-1 Motherwell
St Johnstone wanting a penalty of their own now...
A hand on the back of Max Kucheriavyi from Tom Sparrow sees the Saints player go down in the box.
It's soft and after a finger to the ear, Kevin Clancy waves play on.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Pittodrie
It looks like Aberdeen are going to their bench, Alfie Dorrington is getting stripped and ready to come on.
If I was to guess, I would say Slobodan Rubezic is set to be hooked.
George Oakley
Another Ayr goal, another George Oakley header.
Aberdeen 0-2 St Mirren
Leanne Crichton
Former Scotland international on Sportsound
Call it what you want but they're left two for two. Olusanya and Mandron are not lightweight strikers, you've gone two centre-backs up against two very good central strikers.
That, from a defensive team perspective, is utterly shambolic. That is so naive, there's no leaders on the pitch that understand the vulnerability of that situation.
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
A mild dust-up here as Blair Spittal and Liam Polworth clash, following Cammy Devlin going down under pressure from Calvin Ramsay.
Sensible from referee John Beaton, who keeps his cards in his pocket.
Mikael Mandron
Superb work down the line from Olusanya to burst away from Rubezic and continue to out-muscle the defender before cutting it back to the unmarked Mandron.
The St Mirren number nine shows great composure with his first-time finish.
Aberdeen were left two-on-two at the back and looked bereft of ideas on how to deal with the two attackers.
Olusanya breezed past Rubezic who is having a torrid time of it this afternoon.
Aberdeen 0-1 St Mirren
Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Pittodrie
St Mirren are not giving the Aberdeen players a minute's peace.
They are snapping into the challenges all over the park and are clearly growing in confidence.
Image source, SNSSt Mirren's Marcus Fraser tackles Aberdeen's Jeppe Okkels
St Johnstone 0-1 Motherwell
Amy Canavan
BBC Scotland at McDiarmid Park
This has been an incredibly quick half-hour of play... and it's welcomed.
Not because the game isn't good, it's actually decent, but my goodness it is bitterly cold.
To give you an idea, I have four thermal layers, a snood, a hat, gloves and a big jacket wrapped around my legs in addition to the one I have on.
And half of Allan Preston's heater.
Freezing doesn't cut it.
Image source, SNSAndy Halliday's early penalty certainly warmed up the travelling fans
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
Jamie McCart has the ball in the back of the Kilmarnock net, but the flag is up quickly.
It comes from a Blair Spittal crossed free-kick.
The replay looks very tight... but the decision stands. No goal.
Elton Kabangu has now scored three goals in two games for Hearts
Hearts held off a strong Kilmarnock fightback to win a five-goal thriller at Tynecastle Park and leapfrog Derek McInnes' side in the Scottish Premiership.
Elton Kabangu scored after seven minutes on his first league start and the hosts dominated the first half without further testing deputing goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara.
Kilmarnock immediately made them pay in the second half, with Bobby Wales smashing home a volley to bring the score level after 50 minutes.
However, Hearts found a response quickly. James Wilson did brilliantly to win a corner which James Penrice put onto the head of Jamie McCart, with the January g powering in a header.
Two minutes later, it looks like the hosts had wrapped up proceedings with a bizarre goal. Jorge Grant's initial shot deflected high into the air, but the midfielder got his head to the ball before O'Hara could collect.
Kilmarnock hit back again, as Fraser Murray nodded Danny Armstrong's cross through Craig Gordon's legs at the back post to set up a tense finale.
Both sides threw everything at finding the next goal, but both keepers produced a few fine saves to keep the scoreline as it was, much to Kilmarnock's dismay.
Incredibly, this is just the second time Hearts have beaten Kilmarnock at Tynecastle in 12 games and they were certainly made to work for all three points.
That said, two of the three goals were slightly comical. Kabangu's came about as the result of dreadful mis-hit shots from Grant and Wilson fell to the striker.
The second was a well-worked corner but the third was the result of dreadful goalkeeping.
The hosts should have scored more - which has been a trait of Hearts under Critchley. Musa Drammeh hit the post and had a shot well saved by O'Hara in the second half and had either gone in, they would have wrapped the game up comfortably.
Defensively, they had to deal with the loss of Craig Halkett early on and Lewis Neilson struggled slightly when dropped in.
The young centre-back was on loan at St Johnstone in the first half of the season and will have to deputise while new g Michael Steinwender finds fitness.
Ultimately, Hearts showed enough grit to hold on with some thanks to more heroics from Craig Gordon in goal - and with four wins in their last five, have perhaps finally turned the corner.
Derek McInnes was not a happy man at half-time, raging with his players from front to back as he seemed to think they weren't doing their jobs.
In truth, Hearts should have been more than 1-0 up at the break but whatever McInnes said, it worked. He also brought on Danny Armstrong - linked with a move to Hearts - who almost dragged Kilmarnock back into the match.
They immediately had more threat on the wings and both goals came down the right-hand side where Armstrong had replaced on-loan debutant Calvin Ramsay.
The Ayrshire side slip down to 11th place but given they sit seven points above St Johnstone, there is no need to panic just yet. They're only five points off the top six and if they can find the consistency they showed last season they should be fine.
Wales also provided a real threat up top and put in another good audition in the competition to be Kilmarnock's main striker.
Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "I didn't think we were great all game, we looked a little bit off the pace. We were a bit reactive.
"We normally play with real intensity but our quality, our touch... we misjudged things a little. We were a little bit off it but we scored goals at the right time - and good goals too."
Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes: "I don't think we played that well in the first half, that said, I thought we dealt with Hearts playing the ball forward long and filling channels and winning that first .
"We always feel coming to Tynecastle, particularly all my teams that have ever come, if you score two goals you normally either win it or get something for it, and two goals should have been enough to get something for the game."
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 11 | 53 | 60 |
| |
| 23 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 18 | 26 | 47 |
| |
| 23 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 37 |
| |
| 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 36 | -4 | 35 |
| |
| 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 31 |
| |
| 24 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 35 | 37 | -2 | 30 |
| |
| 24 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 30 | 38 | -8 | 30 |
| |
| 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 27 |
| |
| 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 33 | -5 | 27 |
| |
| 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 43 | -19 | 26 |
| |
| 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 40 | -13 | 25 |
| |
| 24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 27 | 48 | -21 | 18 |
|
Manager: Neil Critchley
Formation: 4 - 4 - 2
Manager: Derek McInnes
Formation: 3 - 5 - 2
Manager: Neil Critchley
Formation: 4 - 4 - 2
Manager: Derek McInnes
Formation: 3 - 5 - 2
Scottish Premiership
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Hearts are winless in four league meetings with Kilmarnock (D2 L2), losing both of their last two in a row.
Kilmarnock have only lost one of their last 10 Scottish Premiership games away to Hearts (W6 D3), a 3-1 defeat in December 2022.
Heart of Midlothian have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three league games, as many as their previous 22 beforehand. Not since January 2018 have Hearts gone longer without conceding in the Scottish Premiership (7 games).
Kilmarnock are winless in six away league outings (D2 L4), with their last such win coming in October at Hearts (2-1).
Only Celtic (345) have recorded more pressed sequences in the Scottish Premiership this season than Heart of Midlothian (307), while only Celtic (188) and Rangers (180) have forced more high turnovers than Hearts (153) in the division this term.
