Inside Hearts win at St Johnstone and the 3 distinct parts

It was a welcome win for the men in maroon ahead of a run of fixtures that is: Heidenheim (h), Rangers (a), Celtic (h), Cercle Brugge (a), Aberdeen (h).

Those are five big and exciting matches on either side of the international break but for a team looking to pick up points to move up the league, it is far from easy. At the same time, Hearts could all but ensure passage into the knockout stage of the Conference League.

But before that, let's return to Saturday. It was an interesting encounter in Perth. St Johnstone are playing a different style under new manager Simo Valakari and it certainly contributed to the way the game panned out. 

The match can actually be broken into three parts as illustrated by the race chart below.

​In short:

• While St Johnstone edged the chances in the first half, Hearts were the stronger team, stopping the home side from building from the back.

• The 18 minutes between the start of the second half and the long VAR review saw Hearts completely lose their way.

• From the St Johnstone equaliser to Kenneth Vargas' winning goal, Hearts were a threat on the counter and defended really well.

St Johnstone, as mentioned, have an identifiable way of playing under Valakari, certainly in his short period in charge. They want to build from the back, they have a narrow midfield with Nicky Clark as a No.10. It's pretty much a diamond with Graham Carey and Jason Holt required to move wide. In Adama Sibibeh and Benji Kimpioka, they have two mobile forwards who stretch the game and can handle themselves physically.

It actually suited Hearts.

Everyone who has watched the team since the start of last season knows how much trouble they can sometimes have when playing against and breaking down low blocks. The best performances during that time have usually been when they have not dominated possession. While Saturday couldn't be categorised as one of the best performances they didn't dominate the ball.

That could be seen in the number of passes by the centre-backs of the two sides. Frankie Kent and Kye Rowles had a combined 41 passes with just four between the two, while the Saints' partnership of Kyle Cameron and Jack Sanders had 137 and 33 between each other.

Hearts did, however, press and close down St Johnstone effectively which kept Saints pinned in and a few chances, some better than others, arrived. 

The tone was set early on. A Barry Douglas throw-in in the first minute sees Hearts squeeze the game.

The ball is worked to the other side but Penrice, who was excellent throughout the first half, is aggressive in winning the ball.

That's what Hearts were with their approach out of possession: Aggressive.

With the way St Johnstone want to play, there is an onus on the goalkeeper to play out. Hearts got some joy from squeezing the game hoping to pounce on any risks. It was clear early on with both centre midfielders pushed up as seen below.

And right up until half-time Hearts were forcing Saints' goalkeeper to either go long and pick up the ball or take a risk. The below image is just after Shankland has closed Sinclair down and he's clipped a ball into no man's land.

Hearts got arguably their best chance from Sinclair attempting to play out. He tries to pass between Spittal and Shankland.

The pass is wayward and picked up by Beni Baningime. 

Now, the pass should be straight to Yan Dhanda or to Dhanda via Spittal. Baningime takes the latter option but Spittal's touch doesn't open up the game. It eventually leads to Boateng sliding in a pass for Shankland who turns and drags a shot wide. 

Baningime and Boateng were excellent as a pairing again. The former was the best player on the pitch across the game but the latter was more effective in the first half. Four times in the first 11 minutes he won the ball in St Johnstone's half. 

As a duo, they read the game so well, are quick to assert themselves and very canny in getting their leg into areas to nick the ball away.

In possession, Hearts focused their play down the wings against St Johnstone's narrow midfield. It would either present a 2v1 situation or drag Holt or Carey wide.

While Alan Forrest was direct on the right and created a couple of good openings for himself, the team were more effective down the left. It was down to two reasons. Blair Spittal naturally drifted left to link with Penrice and Dhanda while Penrice was more willing to bomb forward and provide an overlap.

The below is in the first 10 minutes. Once again, Penrice is aggressive in getting to the ball ahead of Carey.

Four seconds later and he's tearing down the left.

Prior to the opening goal from the corner, Hearts have a sustained period of possession and pressure. They put the ball in the box a few times, picking it up when it is cleared and they go again.

The two players to look out for in the first instance, Shankland and Penrice. The Hearts captain is instructing Oyegoke to get up and around Forrest after passing back and sideways. Meanwhile, the left-back is demanding the ball because he sees an opportunity.

What happens next? Penrice passes to Dhanda and is on his bike. He doesn't get the ball but he creates space for his team mate to cut inside with his run.

Thirty seconds later, Hearts have moved the ball out wide once more. This time Penrice gets the pass from Dhanda and his cross goes out for a corner.

Hearts take the lead from a secondary corner and it is clear there was a specific plan to take inswinging corners and put them on top of Sinclair in the St Johnstone goal.

Both Spittal and Penrice put in some excellent deliveries and it was Spittal's whose set piece was diverted in by Clark with Sinclair making a less-than-successful attempt to punch it behind him.

Where did it go wrong?

Now, that first half was, by and large, positive. St Johnstone did pose problems but it was either through their strikers, namely Sidibeh, winning individual battles or from set pieces. Kye Rowles in particular had a difficult afternoon until the final 20 minutes or so and was booked when he was sold a poor pass from Daniel Oyegoke. St Johnstone wanted a second yellow in the second half after Chris Graham penalised him for a nothing 'foul' on Sidibeh.

Before that, Hearts completely lost their way following half time.

Between the start of the half and the long VAR wait, the visitors struggled to keep possession. Their longest sequence was six passes and 13 seconds. Those 18 second-half minutes contributed to St Johnstone's 61 per cent possession share across the 90 minutes. Hearts actually required to keep sterile possession to settle themselves, but poor decision-making meant St Johnstone had control.

The home side were able to build up from the back more easily and play higher up the pitch. Below is barely a couple of minutes into the second half. Kyle Cameron has been able to make a couple of easy passes and it ends with Jason Holt able to turn. The Hearts midfield are noticeably deeper compared to the first half.

A moment or two later, this time on the other side, Jack Sanders is closed down by Shankland but plays a simple pass out wide to Drey Wright who is in plenty of room. The Hearts striker, understandably, immediately looks around trying to understand why there is so much time and space for the former Hibs player.

St Johnstone were able to squeeze the game and play higher up the pitch, as seen by the two Saints centre-backs.

The change in positioning of the two Saints centre-backs when they have the ball from the first half to the second half is illustrated below.

The most egregious moment came in the 54th minute. Cameron advances well into the Hearts half and ends up with him crossing from a position nearly in line with the penalty spot. He is then in the box when a cross comes in from the opposite side when Sidibeh is denied by a fine Gordon stop.

St Johnstone would ultimately score from the penalty spot after a long VAR check. Having watched it numerous times, three words come to mind, 'clear and obvious'. It was far from a clear and obvious foul from Cammy Devlin. The Aussie and Cameron both have their hands on one another and the only thing that goes against Devlin is him falling to the ground.

A few fans on social media pointed out Jason Holt's attention to Shankland at corners. On review, nothing that is clear and obvious but as much obstruction as Devlin's, that's for sure. And that's before you consider the nonsense that unfolded at Easter Road on Sunday.

Sparked into life

That being said, Saints' goal sparked Hearts back into life. Neil Critchley had already made a double change with Kenneth Vargas replacing Dhanda and Spittal going wide and Devlin swapping places with Boateng. 

The first time Saints try to build up after equalising Hearts are back to aggressive mode. Sanders has played a pass into Sven Sprangler and Hearts pounce. Baningime wins it and Hearts counter.

The goal arrives with Hearts in control of possession. Saints have men behind the ball and it is a situation that the team can struggle with but Baningime does something fans would like to see the midfielder, and the side in general, do more of, drive forward with the ball and commit men. He did it very well before slipping Vargas in.

Hearts then saw out the game with relative ease. In fact, St Johnstone didn't have one shot after they had equalised. Critchley's men defended very well. 

Firstly, they kept a good shape and with Vargas now on the park retained an out ball that ensured St Johnstone couldn't push too high up the park. It was 4-4-2 with little space between midfield and defence.

Vargas could have put the game out of sight when he did expose Saints for stepping too high.

What Hearts wanted was to ensure they kept the ball from their own box. Not only did Saints not record a shot but they barely entered the box in the final 20-25 minutes.

The above situation resulted in Hearts getting up the pitch and keeping the ball from their half for two minutes as the game ticked over into stoppage time.

The defence kept an aggressive line as seen below, deep into stoppage time, rather than sitting on the edge of their box and having to repel crosses. Look at the arms going up along the backline. It was offside.

Was it the best performance? No. Were there positive elements to the performance? Yes. The most concerning part was that 18 minutes after half-time when Critchley reckoned the team dropped their energy levels, while some of the decisions in possession were really poor. 

On the flip side, the team had put plenty into those first 45 minutes and then found the character to win the game rather than wilt after conceding.