Lawrence Shankland scored his 50th goal for Hearts as the rampant Edinburgh side tightened their grip on third spot in the cinch Premiership with a 1-0 win away to St Johnstone.
The Jambos captain struck for the 22nd time this season early in the second half to settle a tightly-contested affair at McDiarmid Park and secure a sixth consecutive victory in all competitions.
Hearts have now won 12 of their last 15 league matches since the start of November and remain 12 points clear of nearest challengers Kilmarnock.
Saints boss Craig Levein – a two-time former Jambos manager – made one alteration to the side that won 1-0 at Ross County on Saturday as Oludare Olufunwa replaced David Keltjens.
There were three changes to the Hearts team that started the 3-2 victory at Dundee, with Toby Sibbick, Jorge Grant and Yutaro Oda making way for Stephen Kingsley, Kenneth Vargas and on-loan Charlton midfielder Scott Fraser, who made his debut as a substitute at the weekend.
Hearts controlled possession in the early exchanges but struggled to get a clear sight of goal. Stephen Kingsley had their first notable attempt in the 25th minute after Frankie Kent headed Fraser’s cross down to the edge of the six-yard box but his firm, angled strike was blocked by Dimitar Mitov.
Saints started to grow into the game as the half wore on and they had an opportunity in the 39th minute when Alex Cochrane’s headed clearance dropped to Benjamin Kimpioka just inside the box, but the Swedish striker was unable to get the ball fully under control and sliced his effort wide.
Hearts threatened in the last minute of the half but Vargas headed wide after getting on the end of Dexter Lembikisa’s cross from the right at the back post.
Saints made a change for the start of the second half as Sven Sprangler replaced fellow midfielder Fran Franczak.
Connor Smith, who left Hearts in January to join the Perth side, tried his luck with a shot from distance in the 47th minute but it was easily held by Zander Clark.
A minute later Jambos winger Alan Forrest went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when he curled a low 12-yard shot just past the far post from the left side of the box.
The breakthrough came for the visitors in the 55th minute when Saints defender Andrew Considine misjudged Kent’s long ball up the centre of the pitch and Shankland – alert to the opportunity – flicked the ball beyond Ryan McGowan to get himself free in the box before calmly slotting past Mitov from around 12 yards.
It was the Scotland striker’s 50th goal since joining Hearts from Belgian club Beerschot in the summer of 2022.
Saints – who remain 10th in the table – had two good chances to equalise in the closing stages through Nicky Clark and Adama Sidibeh, but Steven Naismith’s on-form side held firm.
No Neymar return until 2025, says Al-Hilal boss Jesus
Neymar will not return from his anterior cruciate ligament injury until January 2025 at the earliest, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus has warned.
Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain for Al-Hilal in a €90million deal in August 2023, becoming one of the faces of the Saudi Pro League's major recruitment drive.
However, he only played five matches for the club before rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Brazil last October.
The 32-year-old subsequently missed the remainder of the season as well as the Selecao's ill-fated Copa America campaign, and he remains some way away from a return.
Neymar was removed from Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League squad in September, with the 19-time champions only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players for the first half of the season.
Reports had suggested Neymar was close to a return after Al-Hilal posted footage of him training on social media, but Jesus says Brazil's all-time leading scorer must wait until the halfway point of the campaign before being considered.
"Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the league in general," Jesus told reporters on Tuesday.
"I can't, however, specify a date as to when he will return, but we will look at the situation in January."
With no restrictions on foreign players featuring in the AFC Champions League, Neymar could, in theory, play in that competition if he returns to fitness before January.
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King's Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King's Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
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