St Mirren delivered a late blow to Hearts’ title bid, beating them 1-0 in Paisley as Miguel Freckleton’s header two minutes from time settled a tense encounter.
Hearts went down to ten men in the first half when captain Craig Halkett was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity after stumbling on the ball. St Mirren had been on top before the dismissal and continued to press throughout the remainder of the match.
Early in the game Marcus Fraser thought he’d given the hosts the lead, but the flag went up for offside. Later, St Mirren believed they should have had a penalty when Harry Milne felled Jayden Richardson, but VAR ruled the contact occurred outside the area and overturned the on-field spot-kick decision.
The second half saw Hearts weather sustained pressure. Keeper Alexander Schwolow produced a crucial early save with his right shoulder to keep out Mikael Mandron, and for long periods the visitors defended resolutely with a man short. That resistance lasted until the closing moments when Declan John swung in a corner and Freckleton rose to power a header past Schwolow and into the net.
The result was St Mirren’s first league victory in eight games, their fourth match unbeaten and a win that lifts them above Dundee into ninth place, 12 points clear of the relegation zone. For Hearts, who remain top, the defeat hands Celtic and Rangers a chance to cut the gap on Wednesday; before facing Hibernian next week they could find themselves only three points clear ahead of a big clash with Rangers on February 15.
Manager Stephen Robinson said the performance felt like the team he expects, that the unbeaten run is helping build momentum and that the win is important in their bid to stay in the division. Hearts boss Derek McInnes described the night as very tough, accepted the red card and warned that repeatedly going down to ten men is dangerous. He praised his side’s effort in coping with the numerical disadvantage until the late breakthrough, while admitting the team must do better in how they play forward to avoid such situations.