St Mirren 2 Hearts 2: Capital men battle back for hard-earned point in Paisley as league leaders find it tough at the top

Having dispatched of Celtic with consummate ease on Sunday afternoon to open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Premiership, the big question facing Hearts was whether they could follow it up with another victory.

It wasn’t to be. But, in the grand scheme of things, this may end up being a decent point.

This was a display Hearts supporters have seen so often of late. Plenty of grit, and a little bit of magic too. Unfortunately for them, there just wasn’t quite enough of the latter.

Much of the credit for that must go to St Mirren. They are the only side who have inflicted defeat over the Tynecastle so far this season — dumping them out of the Premier Sports Cup on penalties.

And they came close to repeating the trick here. Twice they led, twice they were pegged back.

For Hearts, the unbeaten run goes on. A trip to Paisley is tricky at the best of times, let alone after expending as much energy as they did against the reigning champions a few days earlier.

Derek McInnes clearly held no reservations over what might be left in the tank, naming the same side for the sixth consecutive match — the first time a Hearts boss has done that in the best part of four decades.

This was a test of his players’ mental toughness as much as anything else. And they passed.

They came within a whisker of going ahead just before the 15-minute mark after winning back possession on the halfway line.

Shankland had options either side, but plumped for the overlapping Beni Baningime. He cut inside on the angle of the area and sent a curling effort towards the top corner with Shamal George stranded. Fortunately for the Saints’ keeper, the post came to his rescue.

The credit for so much of Hearts’ early-season success has gone to the trio of Lawrence Shankland, Alexandros Kyziridis and Claudio Braga.

But they wouldn’t be able to hog the headlines were it not for Baningime and Cammy Devlin behind them. Former Everton man Baningime in particular was outstanding here. Whether he was breaking up play or driving forward, he was at the core of everything good Hearts did.

Braga was having an altogether tougher time of it in the first half, and was on the receiving end of a few choice words from his manager on the sideline on more than one occasion.

Both his — and McInnes’ — mood may have improved had the Portuguese been able to work George with a glancing header having met a Kyziridis delivery midway through the opening period.

It wasn’t too long before the manager was going tonto again though. At least it wasn’t Braga getting the blame. First, Matthew MacDermid copped it for giving a soft-looking free-kick the way of the Buddies.

Then, it was the much-heralded backline which bore the brunt after failing to deal with the subsequent punt in to the area from the set-piece.

Dan Nlundulu shouldn’t have been able to bring it down on his chest six yards out, but even then, he had plenty to do. The overhead kick which flew beyond Alexander Schwolow was sublime.

Hearts’ response was instant. St Mirren failed to deal with a hopeful ball in to the box and, following a bit of ping-pong, the ball landed at the feet of Shankland, who coolly slotted home first time to notch his sixth Premiership goal of the campaign.

St Mirren went ahead again within 10 minutes of the restart through Miguel Freckleton. It came at the end of more uncharacteristically woeful defending from the league leaders.

The Buddies have taken a fair bit of stick for their style of play under Stephen Robinson. Not easy on the eye, or so many would have you believe. In truth, it’s an unfair label.

But there isn’t a team in Scotland’s top flight who relish the physical battle quite as much, and sometimes it’s not a bad idea to just do what you’re good at. They certainly reaped the rewards here.

Killian Phillips’ towering back-post header was tipped wide by Schwolow as the Saints chased a killer third. Yet, within a minute, parity was restored.

The Saints allowed Kyziridis far too much time to get a shot away from distance, with George only managing to tip it on to the bar at full stretch. Braga rose highest amongst those following up in the six-yard box to head in the rebound.

Substitute Pierre Landy Kabore thought he’d won it for Hearts in the dying stages, but he looked a mile offside in the build-up. VAR confirmed it to spoil the party in the away end.

ST MIRREN (3-5-2): George; Fraser, King, Frecklington; McMenamin (Sobowale 85), Phillips, Baccus (Donnelly 75), O’Hara, John; Nlundulu (Ayunga 75), Mandron. Booked: Freckleton, Phillips. Manager: Stephen Robinson.

HEARTS (4-4-2): Schwolow; McEntee, Halkett, Findlay, Kingsley (Kabore 66); Milne, Devlin, Baningime, Kyziridis; Braga (Magnusson 85), Shankland. Booked: Halkett, Milne. Manager: Derek McInnes.

Referee: Matthew MacDermid.

Attendance: 7,105.