Shankland celebrates with his team-mates after making it 2-0SNS

Shankland celebrates with his team-mates after making it 2-0

At a glance

  • Hearts go top of the table with dominant win

  • Kyziridis' stunning strike opens the scoring

  • Shankland becomes SPFL all-time top scorer

  • Halkett puts game beyond doubt as Hearts remain unbeaten this season

Hearts v Falkirk highlights

27/09/25

Watch on iPlayer
Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

Rampant Hearts moved to the top of the Scottish Premiership with a dominant win over a listless Falkirk at a raucous Tynecastle, as Lawrence Shankland became the SPFL's record goalscorer.

Since Tony Bloom's claim that Hearts could split the Old Firm this season, every performance of Derek McInnes' side has been scrutinised to see if they're capable of making good on the investor's words.

This performance would suggest that they remain unfazed by any such pressure with a sublime Alexandros Kyziridis strike followed by a fine Shankland effort, before Craig Halkett's diving header put the game to bed.

Shankland's strike was his 163rd in all divisions during the SPFL era, moving him one ahead of Rory McAllister.

Hearts had a slew of early chances, with Harry Milne and Stuart Findlay going close until Kyziridis drove in off the right and whipped a 30-yard strike into the top corner.

Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain kept his side in the game admirably but failed to reach Shankland's low, driving shot after the striker pounced on a loose pass.

John McGlynn would have drawn inspiration in his half-time team talk from Falkirk's comeback from two goals down last time out against Hibs, but the game was soon out of sight.

Halkett's diving header was directed back across goal from a Kyziridis corner, sealing a comfortable win for the commanding hosts.

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Analysis: Can Hearts stay the course at the top?

"Aye, but can they actually win the league?" will be a question asked in many post-match debriefs across Gorgie and beyond after this performance.

This game could have been a tricky one against a stubborn Falkirk, especially given the level of expectation building inside Tynecastle. Hearts, however, breezed it.

McInnes said pre-match his side were starved for options on the right, so the seamlessness with which left-back Harry Milne has slotted in at right midfield shows they have the quality within the squad to keep pushing.

Hearts average positions against FalkirkSNS

Harry Milne has eased McInnes' concerns over cover on the right-hand side

The above graphic of Hearts' average positions shows Milne's comfort with staying out on his side to support Shankland (9), whom he often linked up with.

Hearts were dynamic and potent, with 20 shots - 14 of which were inside the area - 46 touches in Falkirk's box, and 64 final-third entries.

Falkirk have been solid enough on their return to the top flight, but this shows they are still levels off the top sides and will be wary of their league position.

Only Rangers and Aberdeen are below them, and with many reckoning both of those sides will figure out their poor form soon, McGlynn will be keen to move away from the foot of the table.

What they said

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes: "The mentality of the team was strong in the second half, I thought we started like a train again, pounced on the mistakes, upset their rhythm totally, and we got a really powerful goal from [Craig] Halkett.

"You have to deal with teams, every game is tough, Falkirk are a good side.

"It was the type of performance that I was kind of hoping for more often, particularly here at Tynecastle.

"He's [Shankland] been a consistent performer for a long time, he's been a brilliant performer for the club, it was so important we could keep him."

Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "Yeah, we had to try and stay in the game after that, and we almost did.

"We had to get to half-time at 1-0 and re-address it, we looked a bit heavy-legged, and I think that comes from the game on Tuesday, but we're going to have to be able to do that.

"So maybe team selection has to be looking at that, maybe guys that have done too much on Tuesday night come into that huge, big game today.

"The boys kept on going, they kept working, we tried things to try and change things around a little bit."

What's next for these sides?

Hearts welcome city rivals Hibernian in the Premiership on Saturday 4 October (17:45 BST).

Falkirk host Rangers the following day in the top flight (15:00).

Where next?

Player of the match

A. Kyziridis
8.93
89 A. Kyziridis
8.93
4 C. Halkett
8.55
9 L. Shankland
8.53
10 Cláudio Braga
8.33
14 C. Devlin
8.26
18 H. Milne
8.26
3 S. Kingsley
8.03
19 S. Findlay
7.90
6 B. Baningime
7.89
25 A. Schwolow
7.87
31 O. McEntee
7.70
7 E. Kabangu
6.51
15 M. Steinwender
6.49
29 S. Kerjota
6.34
22 T. Magnússon
6.34
17 A. Forrest
6.30
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