Dundee claimed a priceless 1-0 William Hill Premiership win at Tynecastle to heap further pressure on Hearts boss Neil Critchley.
Simon Murray netted the only goal of the game seven minutes before half-time to lift the Dens Park men above Ross County in the relegation play-off spot.
After narrowly missing out on a place in the top six in the final game before the split, Hearts now find themselves just five points above the play-off place -having picked up just one point in their last four league matches.
The mood of the home supporters was reflected in the number of empty seats around Tynecastle at kick-off.
A tedious opening brought little in the way of goalmouth action at either end, though Elton Kabangu came close in the 17th minute when he steered the ball just wide after picking up Jamie McCart’s pass.
The visitors had offered very little going forward but they almost took the lead when Ryan Astley robbed Blair Spittal and surged towards goal. Luckily for Spittal, McCart was able to get across to make a crucial block to divert the ball behind to safety.
It took a fantastic point-blank stop from Trevor Carson to keep out Jorge Grant’s volley with 32 minutes played, then at the other end Seb Palmer-Houlden should have done better when headed Josh Mulligan’s pin-point delivery off target.
Dundee had the woodwork to thank in the 36th minute. Cammy Devlin’s shot cannoned off the post and into the path of Grant, who again was denied by more heroics by Carson.
The deadlock was broken two minutes later. The home defence failed to deal with Scott Tiffoney’s cross and when the ball broke the way of Murray, he made no mistake — drilling low into the net.
On the stroke of half-time, James Penrice did well to tee-up Kabangu, though he fired straight at the keeper.
The Hearts players trudged off at the interval with the sound of boos from the home fans ringing in their ears.
Critchley was clearly unimpressed with his side’s performance too, introducing Stephen Kingsley and Musa Drammeh ahead of the restart. However, the changes did little to change the mood.
Frankie Kent powered a header over the top as the hosts continued to struggle to lift the negativity around the ground.
With 12 minutes remaining, Kent headed Clark Robertson’s effort behind for a corner and from the resulting set-piece Finlay Robertson slashed his strike past the post.
Time was running out for Critchley’s men, Devlin failed to work Carson with a low drive, before Adam Forrester lashed well over the bar.
Six minutes of added time provided some hope for the home supporters who had seen an abject display from their team.
It looked they had found an unlikely leveller when Forrester bundled home in the dying seconds but Craig Gordon was adjudged to have fouled Carson in the build-up.
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