Steven Naismith was delighted to banish Hearts’ “incredible” wait of almost two years to record three consecutive league wins.
The Jambos eked out a 1-0 victory at home to St Johnstone, following up the triumphs over Motherwell and Livingston prior to the international break.
It is the first time that they have managed to collected nine points from a possible nine since they defeated Dundee and Ross County in December 2021 and then St Johnstone the following month, and now Naismith wants his team to maintain the consistency.
“A stat which I worked out earlier in the week which is incredible is that we hadn’t won three league games in a row since January 2022,” he said. “It’s an incredible stat for a club like Hearts.
“We have done that today and we have now got to use that. As I said last week and the week before, we need to be consistent in keeping clean sheets, making chances, getting goals and winning games. So it’s been a good afternoon. The biggest gripe is probably that we’ve not scored more goals.”
The only goal of the game came in the 61st minute came when Liam Boyce steered an effort towards goal, although it flicked off Lawrence Shankland on its way into the net, and the Scotland forward appears to have been credited with his 11th club goal of the season.
“I think it’s Shanks who has been fortunate,” said Naismith when asked to clear up the confusion about who scored the goal. “Boyce has done all the leg work and it’s a controlled finish, and then it’s come off Shanks’ calf and goes in. Shanks is certainly claiming it.
“By the time we made it into the changing room everyone had given it to Shanks.”
Naismith was baffled that Hearts were not awarded a first-half penalty when Alan Forrest went down under a challenge from Luke Robinson.
“It’s a penalty all day long, but are referees refereeing the game differently now because they’re thinking VAR might step in, but if it doesn’t hit the threshold for clean and obvious it’s not given?” mused Naismith. “It’s a penalty, no debate about it.”
Recently-appointed St Johnstone boss Craig Levein was encouraged by his team’s display but joked that he was disappointed he did not get a more hostile reception from the Hearts supporters.
The 59-year-old spent a huge chunk of his career at Tynecastle as a player, director of football and two-time manager, before he was sacked four years ago.
“I was expecting to get a little bit of stick but it didn’t really materialise,” he laughed. “I was a wee bit disappointed. I need to have a word with the Hearts fans about that!”
Reflecting on the match, Levein added: “We were in the game at all times even after the goal, but what do you do with Boyce and Shankland if they get a chance? We tried to stop them getting chances and that was one of the things I was really pleased about.
“Apart from that opportunity we restricted them to very little but they’re just so good at putting the ball in the back of the net. We fell foul to that today.”
'I have nothing against him' - Leao brushes off rumours of feud with Fonseca
Rafael Leao has shrugged off suggestions of a feud between him and Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca despite starting fewer games in recent weeks.
The winger started three consecutive Serie A matches on the bench after the last international break, coming on to make substitute appearances in two of those.
He returned to the starting line-up for their 3-3 draw with Cagliari last time out, netting twice in the first half to bring his tally up to three goals for the season, and 50 overall in Serie A.
Leao has also provided three assists in the Italian top-flight, while he has both attempted (36) and completed (24) the most dribbles of any Milan player in the competition.
There were reports of tension between Leao and Fonseca due to the former's lack of playing time in recent weeks, but he brushed off the idea.
"These things happen during the season, I have nothing against him, and he has nothing against me," Leao said while at Portugal's training ground.
"It's all settled. I don't like being on the bench, obviously, but he makes the decisions and I, as a player, have to respect the coach.
"When I step onto the pitch, I have to do my best to help the team."
Leao has also impressed with performances in the Champions League this season, especially against Real Madrid in a 3-1 win, as he registered an assist for their third goal.
However, he has also come under criticism in Italy, with one pundit claiming he has a poor work ethic, suggesting he only puts in effort in big games.
"Clearly, I do not agree with that," Leao added about the recent comments.
"I have been having a great season at Milan but, like everyone else, there are ups and downs. The campaign has only just started. Look, I know that I am not the perfect player and sometimes I can do much better.
"I am not shaken by this criticism. I have people who help me to improve and those are the ones I have to listen to. This criticism just spurs me on to respond on the pitch."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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