Hearts 2-0 St Johnstone

New Hearts manager John McGlynn enjoyed a winning start to the season as St Johnstone were beaten at Tynecastle.

Hearts took the lead when John Sutton converted a 30th-mintue penalty after Dave MacKay had fouled David Templeton in the area.

And Saints' afternoon got worse when striker Gregory Tade was dismissed for violent conduct before the break.

Liam Craig and Nigel Hasselbaink went close for the visitors before Templeton fired Hearts' second late on.

In glorious sunshine, the home side almost took the lead after 10 minutes when Ryan McGowan looped a header over Saints goalkeeper Alan Mannus.

Sutton scored Hearts' first from the spot

But, as the ball looked destined to end up in the back of the net, defender Callum Davidson acrobatically cleared off the line.

Saints raced upfield and were unlucky not to break the deadlock. A terrific cross in from the left by Craig was met by the head of Hasselbaink, but the ball came off the base of the post.

Davidson was again the saviour for Steve Lomas's team, clearing an Andy Driver shot when a goal looked assured.

Hearts' pressure paid off on the half-hour mark. Templeton ran 30 yards with the ball, beating at least five players before Saints captain MacKay brought him down six yards out.

Sutton confidently stroked home the penalty, his first competitive goal since returning to the club from a loan spell at Central Coast Mariners.

There was a further setback for Saints six minutes later when Tade clashed with Andy Webster.

Referee Stevie O'Reilly decided the striker's actions were too aggressive and a straight red card was shown, much to the disgust of Tade and his manager.

Lomas made an immediate tactical switch, with midfielder Pat Cregg being sacrificed and new signing Rowan Vine sent on from the bench.

Despite being down to 10 men, Saints kept pushing forward.

Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald was forced into a couple of decent stops from Hasselbaink and Craig.

The hosts also had their chances in the second period, Templeton forcing Mannus into a decent stop low to his right hand side.

However, Templeton gained his reward for a magnificent individual performance when he latched on to a through ball from Mehdi Taouil and sent a curling shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net with eight minutes left.

Live text commentary