St Mirren sealed their place in the top six of the cinch Premiership for a second successive season despite going down 2-1 at home to Hearts.
A Jorge Grant penalty and a Mikael Mandron own goal put the visitors two goals ahead, making Toyosi Olusanya’s terrific solo effort a mere consolation.
Hibernian’s defeat at home to St Johnstone, however, was enough to confirm Saints’ berth in the top half of the table for the five final games while Hearts consolidated their hold on third place.
Saints manager Stephen Robinson made three changes from the side that drew with Motherwell. Out went Ryan Strain, Mark O’Hara and James Bolton, replaced by Elvis Bwomono, Kwon Hyeok-kyu and Richard Taylor.
Hearts, in turn, made two switches following their draw with Kilmarnock, with Cammy Devlin and Kye Rowles coming in for Lawrence Shankland and Beni Baningime.
The windy conditions made things difficult for both sides, with a free-kick attempt from Saints’ Caolan Boyd-Munce soaring high over the crossbar.
But Hearts went in front from the penalty spot after 33 minutes. Marcus Fraser slid in with his arm raised to block Kenneth Vargas’ shot and VAR asked referee Alan Muir to take a second look.
He didn’t take long before awarding the spot-kick that Grant confidently slid past Zach Hemming to give the visitors the lead.
Hearts had the wind at their backs in the second period and almost took advantage with their first attack, Vargas’ shot across the face of goal drifting only narrowly beyond the far post.
The Costa Rican looked the player most likely to create something and another run and shot again went just wide.
St Mirren’s best chance early in the second half came from the boot of a Hearts player, with Frankie Kent nearly putting the ball into his own net after Olusanya had lost control but Zander Clark made a good save to spare his team-mate’s blushes.
Instead it was Hearts who scored next to double their lead in the 62nd minute. Alex Cochrane’s corner was headed back across goal by Alan Forrest and ended up ricocheting off Mandron and into the net.
The home side could have cut the deficit moments later but Taylor headed wide from Boyd-Munce’s corner.
St Mirren, though, did finally get a goal back not long afterwards.
Olusanya carried the ball towards the Hearts goal from the halfway line, holding off the backtracking defenders before finishing well past Clark.
Devlin should have scored a third for Hearts after a mistake from Alex Gogic but Hemming did well to block his shot before the ball was cleared.
VAR sent referee Muir to the screen for a second time in the game after Conor McMenamin appeared to be clipped by Aidan Denholm.
This time the official chose to stick with his on-field decision and didn’t award the penalty but the news from Easter Road meant both sets of fans were relatively content come full-time.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim and striker Rasmus Højlund: two people with uncertain futures next season. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)BILBAO, Spain -- Tottenham Hotspur have won their first trophy since 2008 after beating Manchester United 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League final on a tight and tense night in Bilbao.The game was decided by a scruffy goal from Brenn...
Alejandro Garnacho seemed visibly annoyed after being relegated to the bench for Manchester United's Europa League final showdown with Tottenham.Manager Ruben Amorim decided to leave the Argentine winger out of his starting XI, and the player was noticeably late in joining his fellow subs for the pre-match warm-up. Garnacho spent a good 15 minutes on the pitch, still suited up, having a chat with ...
Ruben Amorim spoke out about his future (Image: Getty)Ruben Amorim has offered to forgo any copensation he would be owed if Manchester United bosses decide to sack him this summer. The Red Devils lost the Europa League final 1-0 against Tottenham on Wednesday night.A trophyless season, coupled with United's 16th-place in the Premier League table, has left huge question marks hanging over Amorim's ...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today.Liverpool v Crystal Palace next game Tottenham Europa league Champions Winner Arsenal🤝Man City🤝Man Utd 17th-place Spurs took the back door to the Champions League Manchester United's season: Just GOAT Things! "He let Tottenham win a trophy." Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, BleacherReportFootball, originalt...
Liverpool are set to part ways with Darwin Nunez this summer, and the Uruguay striker could be set for a move to Spain, where he previously played with Almeria. And despite interest from a number of clubs, including Serie A leaders Napoli, the likelihood is that La Liga is his most likely destination.Nunez is keen to leave Anfield this summer having had a difficult season under Arne Slot. Liverpoo...
Manchester United were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham in the Europa League final.The Red Devils, who were heavily relying on the Europa League to save their season, suffered defeat against Ange Postecoglou’s side in Bilbao.This defeat makes matters worse for Ruben Amorim and his players next season.They have failed to qualify for the Champions League next season. Not only that, they are not going t...
Arsenal have emerged as contenders to sign Rodrygo from Real Madrid after GOAL reported Chelsea are lining up an offer for the Brazilian.Arsenal exploring options to sign RodrygoChelsea also considering a bid for BrazilianMadrid reportedly demanding £85m for wingerWHAT HAPPENED?Arsenal are already holding talks about a possible bid for the winger, Sky Sport in Germany reports, with the Gunner...
Revealed: Conte's long list of demands to stay on at NapoliAntonio Conte has issued a list of demands to the Napoli board if he is to stay on as coach next season.Bayern could lose two key coaching staff membersBayern Munich and head coach Vincent Kompany could lose two key members of the coaching staff just days after reclaiming their Bundesliga throne.Chelsea in talks over move for €100m-r...
HE TOLD us so. Big Ange Postecoglou told us that he always wins a trophy in his second season. And even though it was a statement of fact, we laughed at him, we sneered and we wondered why he’d made such a bold statement when he was the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, London’s long-running comedy club. But after a terrible match, between two terrible teams, settled by a terrible goal, Po...
ENGLAND fans heading to next summer’s World Cup could be fleeced for THOUSANDS per match under Fifa plans to use a "dynamic pricing" strategy.Average costs of around £305 per match had previously been reported.But now Fifa chiefs are looking at the same demand-based pricing arrangements that saw this summer’s Oasis reunion concerts plunged into controversy.And that could see ticke...
- 1 We will see – no Unai Emery assurances over future of tearful Emiliano Martinez
- 2 Mikel Arteta ready to give his life to deliver silverware for Arsenal
- 3 Man City withdraw and Liverpool could steal
- 4 Chelsea beat Manchester United in FA Cup final to seal domestic treble
- 5 Mikel Arteta apologises for failing to deliver Arsenal a Premier League title
- 6 Liverpool cleared to complete signing
- 7 Marc Guehi to land transfer to Real or Barca
- 8 Real Madrid agree deal for Dean Huijsen
- 9 Dele Alli’s girlfriend Cindy sets pulses racing in barely
- 10 3 EPL giants have advantage in Osimhen race