Kilmarnock came from behind at Tynecastle to earn a Scottish Premiership win and hand new head coach Neil Critchley his first defeat as Hearts head coach.

The hosts dominated the ball and looked well worth their lead when Alan Forrest struck near the end of the first-half.

But in a five minute spell, Kilmarnock made the most of poor Hearts' defending to hit twice - first through Matty Kennedy and then through Kyle Vassell.

Hearts now drop to the bottom of the league, with Kilmarnock up to sixth.

Hearts looked every inch a side buoyed by their late derby equaliser at the weekend, knocking the ball around sharply with Blair Spittal at the heart of it.

It was he who had the first chance, whipping the ball low from the edge of the box to produce a fine save from Robby McCrorie.

Despite the hosts enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Kilmarnock were able to carve out chances on the counter. Vassell won a race with Craig Gordon to lift the ball over him, but it was cleared off the line by Kye Rowles.

The sides were trading chances. Cammy Devlin had a shot deflected inches wide before Danny Armstrong and Joe Wright went close.

It was Hearts who took the lead, though.

A brilliant quick throw from Lawrence Shankland set Kenneth Vargas free, and the forward was able to pull back to Spittal. Instead of shooting, he pulled the ball across to Forrest who finished well.

The second-half started, seemingly, quite well for the hosts. They had Kilmarnock penned in their own box, but they were soon punished for their profligacy.

Vassell won a physical battle with Frankie Kent to earn the ball in the box. His shot was blocked, but it spun to Kennedy, who sliced a half-volley into the top corner.

Five minutes later, the visitors were ahead. A simple long throw into the Hearts' box wasn't dealt with. Wright was able to backheel to Vassell, who held off the defender to swivel and score.

The hosts were rocked and while they continued to play neat passes and got into dangerous areas, McCrorie was rarely tested.

In his fourth game in charge, the new head coach lost for the first time - but he might scratch his head and wonder how.

Hearts enjoyed 70% possession, had 300 more accurate passes than their hosts, and spent 30% of the game in Kilmarnock's defensive third.

But there was a hesitancy within them. Spittal would lay the ball on a plate and his team-mates would delay the shot, seemingly unsure which option to take.

Sometimes the best option is just to shoot. But the man who you'd trust to take the shot, Shankland, is in the midst of a barren spell.

He has just one goal all season - one that bounced off him against Ross County. He's getting chances that five months ago he would've buried without thinking. Now he can't buy a goal.

When Kilmarnock can keep their discipline, they're a very difficult team to beat.

To say they had two chances and scored them both would be untrue, though. They threatened at time in the first half, and often absorbed Hearts' pressure while remaining unscathed.

They managed the game better than their hosts, rode the wave of momentum they enjoyed briefly in the second half, and left with all three points - and also, notably, no red cards.

It's amazing what you can do with 11 men on the pitch.

Hearts' head coach Neil Critchley: "I'm disappointed to lose the game the way we have. We started well, had some good moments, looked real threatening.

"The goals we've given away are really poor to concede. An innocuous long ball that we don't deal with. The second one is fine details, we don't get the first or second contact. Far, far too easy."

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes: "Hearts scored when we were having our best period and I thought we'd sorted ourselves out. We had two or three good opportunities first half, so we had to do it the hard way.

"There were a few words at half-time, a reminder of what we need to be. It was a very good second half. As much as Hearts were better first half, we were better second."