Highlights: Hearts 3-1 St Mirren

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Hearts leapfrogged St Mirren to move into the Scottish Premiership top six for the first time since August as they came from behind to beat the Paisley side at Tynecastle.

St Mirren had gone ahead through the only real chance of the first half, when Mikael Mandron capitalised on a loose ball in the box to fire home.

Hearts hit back in the second half when 17-year-old James Wilson was presented with a simple chance, thanks to Richard Taylor's miss-kicked clearance, and tucked away with aplomb.

Within 10 minutes, the hosts were ahead as Calem Nieuwenhof - making his first start in almost a year - shifted the ball onto his right and curled into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

It almost went from bad to worse for Stephen Robinson as Killian Phillips was shown a red card as he flew into an aerial challenge and sent Jamie McCart flying.

However, after a VAR review, the red was downgraded to a yellow.

McCart had already been in the wars, having been caught in the face by Mandron's elbow. Referee Euan Anderson only deemed that one worthy of a yellow.

Hearts confirmed the win when Jorge Grant played a one-two with Lawrence Shankland to get into the box.

He squared unselfishly to Kenneth Vargas, who fired home from close range and the goal was given after a lengthy VAR check.

Hearts now have eight wins in their last 10 in all competitions - only losing once in that time - and move to sixth, sending St Mirren down to seventh.

Hearts show fighting spirit to continue run

It had been 16 matches since Hearts won after conceding the first goal - all the way back in April 2024 against Livingston.

And at half-time, it was hard to see where they were going to produce a positive result from.

Nieuwenhof and Sander Kartum - making his first start since joining in January - looked short of match fitness in the midfield diamond and Hearts lacked the energy of the still-concussed Cammy Devlin.

However, they were handed the perfect opportunity and Wilson showed the kind of composure Hearts' desperately lacked against Rangers.

That boosted morale and atmosphere greatly, and when Nieuwenhof put them ahead, they relaxed slightly.

St Mirren did start to throw more bodies forward and Hearts had to navigate some full-blooded challenges - and questionable decisions - to ultimately see off the visitors.

St Mirren can't back up famous win

When St Mirren beat Rangers in December, they went on to lose their next four.

Early on here, it looked like they were going to display the kind of control that saw off Philippe Clement at the weekend, and make it two wins from two on the road.

But when things started to go against them, they lost their heads a little and the physicality was upped a level - not always legally.

Mandron was lucky not to see red - for either his elbow on McCart on for his foul on Baningime moments later.

Phillips, too, can consider himself fortunate. He was sent off for an elbow and therefore violent conduct, but VAR referee Gavin Duncan pointed out to the referee that no contact was made with the elbow.

Ultimately, Stephen Robinson will be frustrated. His side edged large parts of the game and did have chances through Toyosi Olusanya, but he was not able to drag his side back into the match.

What they said

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "It was a really tough game. I didn't think we were at our best, but we're finding ways to win games.

"We weren't clean or efficient in our play. I wouldn't say sloppiness but not our usual selves on the ball. But moments went for us and we showed real grit and resilience."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "I thought our performance was similar to Saturday - really good for long periods.

"We were in total control of the game, but we have two individual errors in the second half, and credit to Hearts, they punished us."