Hibernian 2-0 St Johnstone: Lewis Miller and Dylan Vente give Hibs first home win
- Published
Lewis Miller headed in his first Hibs goal late in the first half
Hibernian picked up their first home win of the Scottish Premiership season, with goals from Lewis Miller and Dylan Vente leaving St Johnstone stuck at the bottom of the table.
Right-back Miller nodded in his first goal for the club before the interval and Vente finished off a slick move, shooting home from an outrageous Adam le Fondre flick.
Rory Whittaker became the youngest Hibs player at 16 years and 44 days and the substitute almost capped his debut with a goal, Dimitar Mitov saving with his legs.
Mitov was busy throughout the afternoon as the Edinburgh side dominated for long spells.
New manager Nick Montgomery is now unbeaten in two games as Hibs jump up to fifth.
Saints, still waiting for a victory after six outings, went close early when a deflected Graham Carey free-kick found the side-netting, while Cammy MacPherson wasn't far away with a shot and Dan Phillips blazed over from a promising position.
Hibs wingers Martin Boyle and Jair Tavares threatened with strikes, with the Portuguese making his first start since August 2022.
The breakthrough came 10 minutes from the interval when Miller arrived at the back post on the left to meet a lofted cross from Joe Newell and steer a downward header home.
A great burst from Boyle almost led to a quick second for the hosts as Le Fondre cracked a fierce effort narrowly off target.
More impressive work from Boyle should have delivered a goal early in the second half but substitute Elie Youan, on for Tavares, ballooned a perfect cutback over from eight yards.
Hibs almost paid for that profligacy when Andy Considine bundled on target from a corner, only to be denied by David Marshall's smart reflexes.
Mitov then saved well from Youan but could do nothing to stop Vente making it 2-0 with a composed finish. The Dutchman stroked the ball low into the corner after collecting a lovely, flicked pass from Le Fondre.
The Saints keeper then used his legs to block a shot from Whittaker, with Christian Doidge's follow-up effort kept out by a defender near the line.
Hibs, who let a two-goal lead slip at Rugby Park last weekend, then had little trouble keeping just a second clean sheet across 13 games in all competitions.
Player of the match - Lewis Miller
The Australian full-back celebrated his first goal for Hibs, was solid in the tackle and always looking to get forward
Reasons to be cheerful for Montgomery - analysis
There is a lot for Montgomery to be pleased with as the new boss got off to a winning start at home.
Hibs have so many attacking threats and Tavares could add to those options, having been frozen out by the previous regime.
The former Benfica B winger was neat and tidy in his 53 minutes but doesn't have the explosive menace of Boyle or Youan and his departure allowed the former to switch to the right where he is more impactful.
Boyle had the fans on their feet with several surges as he looks more and more like his old self after a long absence through injury. His partnership with the powerful Miller meant Saints were overrun time and again in the second half.
Highlight of the day was the clever touch from Le Fondre to set up Vente, which will surely have the Sportscene pundits purring.
A rare clean sheet will be high on Montgomery's reasons to be cheerful but the visitors' blunt attack must be taken into account.
St Johnstone did get into some promising positions but only managed to get one effort on target.
The Perth squad has been completely overhauled and too many players in blue looked like strangers.
What they said
Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery: "The boys stuck to the game plan. Fans want the ball forward all the time, but that can't always be the case. I was pleased with the composure we showed in the build up. St Johnstone were quite aggressive, pressing high.
"To play in this team, you need to work very hard and I think you saw a real team performance."
St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean: "It's been the story of the season so far. We need to get better at taking our chances when we are on top. We need to do more to get on the end of crosses because we had a lot of final-third entries.
"There are a lot of things right, but there are things we need to do better. There's only one way that gets solved and that's working hard on the training pitch."
What next?
Hibs are at home again on Wednesday, with in-form St Mirren visiting in the quarter-finals of the League Cup (19:45 BST). St Johnstone welcome Livingston to Perth on league duty next Saturday (15:00 BST)