Hearts Show Resilience Despite Defensive Vulnerabilities
Hearts thrilling going forward, fragile at the back. The story of their season under Steven Vrancken refuses to change.
The new head coach has preached balance since he walked through the door, talking about knitting together the aggression of his front line with a defence that too often lives on the edge. On this occasion, though, there was a clear caveat: tired legs and tired minds.
The effort poured into that epic, 10-man comeback against Rapid Vienna had left a mark. Hearts had emptied the tank in Europe. Here, they tried to squeeze a little more out of it.
They flew out in the first half. Eleven efforts. Seven on target. St Johnstone were rocked back as Hearts swarmed all over them.
In midfield, Mendy stitched the game together with authority. He barely misplaced a pass, drove his team on and came within inches of marking the performance with his first goal for the club. In a week when Tom Renaud suffered a nasty-looking injury that could sideline the Frenchman for some time, Mendy’s composure carried extra weight. Hearts needed someone to steady the middle of the pitch. He did it.
The problem sat behind him.
St Johnstone struck early, another soft goal coughed up by a Hearts defence that still looks vulnerable when asked to do the basics. One ball, one lapse, and they were opened up again. For all the attacking fluency, that familiar anxiety lingered every time the visitors crossed halfway.
As the minutes ticked by, the toll of midweek exertions became obvious. Simple passes went astray. Routines that felt automatic in the opening half-hour suddenly looked laboured. Decision-making slipped. Mental fatigue joined the physical, and by the closing stages Hearts were clinging on rather than controlling.
But they clung on. They got it over the line.
That matters, not just for the table but for the mood heading into Thursday night’s Edinburgh derby at Easter Road. Vrancken wants balance; for now, he will take resilience.
St Johnstone, though, refused to play the role of beaten guests.
Given how cheaply the goals were conceded, this could easily have gone the way of Dundee United’s recent visit to Gorgie, a one-sided 4-0 that was over before it ever felt like a contest. This Saints side, under Valakari, showed a harder edge. Their heads stayed up. Their shape held. Their belief grew.
They wrestled the momentum away from Hearts and carved out chances that should have dragged them level. The engine of that resurgence sat in the middle of the park, where former Hearts man Jason Holt and Sam Stanton turned the screw. They snapped into tackles, recycled possession, and kept driving their team forward.
Ahead of them, Jamie Gullan ran himself into the ground. Off the bench, Taylor Steven and Kai Fotheringham added fresh legs and sharp movement, stretching a Hearts back line that was already running on fumes.
The opening was there. What was missing was calm.
The lack of composure in front of goal cost St Johnstone dearly, summed up by Josh Fowler’s big moment in the second half. He rounded Reus, the hard part done, the net gaping. Instead of burying it, he hesitated. The chance vanished, and with it went their best opportunity to turn pressure into points.
Still, the signs are unmistakable. Valakari’s team carries a threat going forward, patterns of play that suggest more goals will come once the finishing catches up with the build-up. The comparison with Hearts is hard to ignore: plenty of quality at the top end, but a back line that needs tightening.
Two sides with talent, both searching for that elusive equilibrium. One clung to victory. The other left wondering how close they are to finally getting it right.
