St Johnstone striker Nicky Clark's header heads into the netSNS

A flick off Nicky Clark's head gave Hearts the lead

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

Heart of Midlothian moved off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership after a hard-fought victory over St Johnstone in Perth.

St Johnstone forward Nicky Clark scored at both ends before Beni Baningime set up substitute Kenneth Vargas for the winner with 15 minutes remaining.

The victory - Hearts' seventh in a row over Saints and fourth in succession in Perth - lifts Neil Critchley's side two points above Hibernian, although their Edinburgh rivals have two games in hand.

And it ends a run of seven domestic away games without a victory this season.

Both sides went into the game looking to bounce back from first defeats suffered under their new managers.

It was Hearts who impressed first, although Lawrence Shankland fired wastefully wide from in front of goal as the Scotland striker looked to end his recent barren run.

However, it was Craig Gordon who was first in action, the visiting goalkeeper pushing wide Clark's curling free-kick.

Just when the game looked to be turning Saints' way, the latest in a series of dangerous Blair Spittal corners to the front post flicked off Clark's head and goalkeeper Ross Sinclair was left flying, Superman-style punching thin air as the ball found the far corner.

Striker Adama Sidibeh squandered a couple of chances to level before the break, midfielder Jason Holt's curler struck the face of the bar shortly after, and Gordon had to push the former's head flick wide.

St Johnstone were level midway through the second half when referee Chris Graham was called to the monitor by VAR to review a challenge by Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin on Kyle Cameron and Clark sent Gordon the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick.

Hearts burst back into life and Baningime weaved his way to the edge of the penalty box and set up forward Vargas to find the far corner with a low drive.

Carey inspires as front two stumble

Simo Valakari's bright start to life back in Scotland has come to an abrupt halt with two consecutive defeats.

However, Saints can count themselves unfortunate on this occasion not have at least taken a point to end Hearts' dominance in their recent meetings.

Former Lech Poznan left-back Barry Douglas was handed his first start since arriving in Perth, but it was the return to the starting line-up of veteran winger Graham Carey that provided much of their attacking threat.

Valakari also changed his goalkeeper, with Sinclair replaced at the break after 45 minutes of nervousness under the high ball, and replacement Josh Rae denied Vargas a second goal.

Had Saints' normally dangerous strike pairing of Benjamin Kimpioka and Adama Sidibeh not looked unusually hesitant, it might have been a different scoreline.

Baningime bright as Shankland fires blanks

Baningime's return from three games on the sidelines through illness proved crucial in getting the Critchley revival back on track.

The former Everton youth was a steadying force in central midfield before setting up the vital winner, while Spittal's corners caused havoc for Sinclair and his defence.

Critchley ought to be concerned at the way his side conceded so much possession and territory as they looked to simply hold on to their lead after the break and only became an attacking force again after Saints' leveller.

The Englishman will also be worried at Shankland's continued poor form, his captain rarely looking like he would score against St Johnstone for a fourth successive game before being replaced late on.

It was left to Vargas, dropped for this one, to come to the rescue off the bench.

What they said

St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "We played well. We are here to win football matches but when we can play good football, it gives us the chance to be successful.

"This league, it's such small margins. We just need to work better to turn these small margins on our side. Our players, what they put on the field - I can't ask more."

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "We had to work really hard for that, particularly in the second half.

"We can win in different ways, which is really pleasing. We defended the goal, really well, I thought. We've had to really put a shift in, physically."

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