St Johnstone were beaten comfortably by Hearts at Tynecastle but will wonder how this became a 3-0 game.
A Josh Ginnelly double and a Jorge Grant cross turned shot decided this contest.
However Saints had a lot of good chances of their own that they squandered – more than in many of the away games they have won this season.
Key moments
Before the ball got to Ginnelly for his opening goal shot from 20 yards out, Adam Montgomery believed he was fouled by Lawrence Shankland when trying to shield the ball.
The VAR official did take longer than usual to study the footage but it very much fell into the 50/50 category so a change to referee Steven McLean’s original ‘no foul’ on-pitch decision was never likely to happen.
Either way, Montgomery should probably have been stronger.
For Ginnelly’s second just after the hour mark, Melker Hallberg was furious a foul was given against him in the centre circle (and was booked for his protest) but Saints’ penalty box defending was poor thereafter.
Hearts were fortunate with their first goal and clinical with their second.
Saints were neither things over the course of the game, with Drey Wright, Melker Hallberg, Graham Carey, Cammy MacPherson and Zak Rudden all close to scoring but not close enough.
Zander Clark denying Wright from point-blank range was the pick of the near things.
A harsh complexion was put on a game that was actually an even one for the most part by a Grant cross turning into a shot that slipped under Remi Matthews’ dive and found the bottom corner.
Player ratings
Matthews 5, Brown 6, Mitchell 6, Gordon 7, Montgomery 6 (Gallacher 3), Wright 6, MacPherson 7, Hallberg 6 (Wotherspoon 4), Carey 6 (Murphy 4), McLennan 6 (Rudden 4), May 6 (Bair 4).
Saints’ star man – Cammy MacPherson
There were no real stand-out performances – and MacPherson has played better than this – but he impressed once more.
Hallberg put in a perfectly acceptable performance next to him as well.
Central midfield certainly isn’t an area of concern for Saints anymore.
Manager under the microscope
With Nicky Clark, Andy Considine and Dan Phillips all ruled out this was always likely to be a tough task.
You wouldn’t say it was a game defined by tactics or team selections – either on the part of Callum Davidson or Robbie Neilson.
Saints matched-up pretty effectively all told.
Ultimately, the team with more quality up front won a game that was much more even that the three-goal margin suggests.
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