The 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock is a reminder of the precarious position Heart of Midlothian are in.
Two wins and a draw from the opening three matches under Neil Critchley gave the sense a corner was slowly being turned.
Wednesday's setback saw Hearts slip back to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.
Despite leading at half-time, poor defending led to Derek McInnes's side leaving Tynecastle Park with all three points.
Hearts Standard watched back the 90 minutes.
A game a three thirds
The game can be broken down into three sections. Hearts dominated the first without scoring then ironically took the lead when Kilmarnock were gaining momentum in the second phase of the game.
Hearts started the second half well but defended poorly towards the end of that middle portion of the game to hand their opponents the lead.
The final section of the game saw Critchley’s men struggle to break down Killie, despite the use of five substitutes.
Low-quality chances
After a couple of misplaced passes in the early stages, Hearts settled into the evening and began to put together some nice passages of play. Blair Spittal and Lawrence Shankland would look to pull defenders out of position and the aim was to use the pace of the wingers to get in behind.
This happened a couple of times on the break or when Hearts bypassed the midfield with a direct pass over the top of the Killie defence.
The chances created in this period were many but were all of low quality.
Arguably the best chance of the first half fell to Kyle Vassell when Kilmarnock beat the Hearts press with four simple passes.
The first of the following three images shows Robbie Deas with the ball in defence for Kilmarnock.
Four simple passes later and Vassell is through on goal and Kye Rowles has to make a desperate clearance.
Space at a premium
A well-worked set piece from the visitors then allowed Danny Armstrong a free shot at goal from the edge of the box and just before Hearts took the lead, Joe Wright had a header from close range.
Kilmarnock did not come to Tynecastle Park to sit deep for 90 minutes but they did find themselves hemmed in for a large part of the first half.
When they did venture forward more, Hearts took full advantage and a quick throw caught the Killie backline off guard and Vargas speeding down the wing before he picked out Spittal whose no-look lay-off was finished by Forrest.
That was the second time Vargas had got in behind the full-back and picked out Spittal, who had taken the shot from the earlier chance. They were Hearts’ best two chances of the half.
Read more
- Hearts identify transfer target as squad size view revealed
- How Hearts dropped back to the bottom of the Premiership
- What Neil Critchley learned about his Hearts players after defeat
There was also early intent from Hearts when both wingers were involved and Vargas hooked a speculative effort towards goal but they were often deprived of space to work in.
Halt-time tweak
The aim from Critchley was again to get plenty of bodies into the final third. In the first half, Vargas and Alan Forrest started wide and switched sides throughout.
Spittal lined up behind Lawrence Shankland in attack but was often forming a front two or playing as the furthest forward.
Again the full-backs provided width and there was a change on the right for the third consecutive game.
For the second half, Spittal moved to the left and pushed Vargas up front – likely to stretch the Kilmarnock defence in the knowledge they would push for an equaliser.
The away side got just that, and a winner. Though the goals were nothing to do with the set up of the team. It was just very poor defending for both.
For the equaliser, Hearts fail to get the second, third and fourth ball under control before Frankie Kent is bullied by Vassell and Matty Kennedy finishes.
The second is just a throw into the box that is not dealt with in a number of instances.
After that, there was worry that Hearts had slipped back into the bad habits from earlier in the season: lots of build-up play, not much end product. They struggled to create anything meaningful after Killie took the lead.
"In them moments, that's where you're relying on the quality of your players on the pitch or that decision-making to make a difference," said Critchley after the game. "And in the final period of the game, that's where we were lacking."
A rebranded St Johnstone will provide a different challenge on Saturday but, regardless, Hearts will need to improve in front of goal, at least on this performance, if they are to start climbing the table.
Read the rules here