Edinburgh | Hearts drop points in Paisley

St. Mirren 2 - 2 Hearts

Hearts twice fought back and saw a late winner ruled out as their Scottish Premiership advantage was trimmed to six points following a gripping draw at St Mirren.

Author | Jamie P

Stadium | The SMISA Stadium

Pre-match Tifo from St.Mirren fans

After Sunday’s victory over Celtic, much of the focus had been on the Tynecastle club’s title ambitions. The question was whether they could replicate that intensity on a chilly midweek evening in Paisley.

Derek McInnes’ side began brightly and came close when Beni Baningime struck the post with a curling effort. But it was St Mirren, desperate to end a run of three consecutive defeats, who took the lead through a superb overhead kick from Dan Nlundulu that left Alexander Schwolow with no chance.

Their advantage, though, was short-lived. Six minutes later, St Mirren failed to clear a cross, and when Keanu Baccus miscontrolled the ball, Lawrence Shankland pounced to slot home his ninth goal of the season from close range.

A dramatic second-half

Shankland had a golden opportunity early in the second half after being left unmarked in the St Mirren box, but from a tight angle he was denied by goalkeeper Shamal George.

That save galvanised the hosts, who began to dominate. From a corner, the ball broke kindly for Miguel Freckleton, who hammered St Mirren back into the lead.

Freckleton thought he had doubled the advantage moments later when his header from a Killian Phillips free-kick struck the post before he reacted quickest to turn in the rebound. However, VAR intervened, and after a lengthy review referee Matthew MacDermid ruled the goal out, judging that Mark O’Hara had been in an offside position and had interfered with play by obstructing Shankland.

The home side’s frustration only deepened when Alexandros Kyziridis saw his curling shot tipped onto the bar, with Claudio Braga heading in the rebound for his ninth goal of the season.

With two minutes remaining, Hearts believed they had snatched victory when Pierre Landry Kabore found the net from close range, but another VAR review chalked it off for offside.