Hearts Struggle for Balance Despite Dominance Against St Johnstone

Hearts dazzled going forward and wobbled at the back again – the same old riddle for head coach Vrancken, who has spoken repeatedly about the need to stitch some balance between their thrilling attack and their porous defence.

This time, though, there was a caveat. Hearts were running on fumes. The squad had emptied the tank in midweek, grinding past Rapid Vienna with 10 men in a draining European tie that left bodies and minds heavy.

You wouldn’t have known it from the opening spell.

Hearts flew out of the blocks, tearing into St Johnstone with a ferocity that pinned the visitors deep. Eleven efforts before the break, seven on target, told its own story. Wave after wave of claret-and-amber pressure crashed forward.

In the heart of midfield, Mendy stitched it all together. Calm on the ball, sharp in the tackle, he barely misplaced a pass and came agonisingly close to his first goal for the club, skimming inches away from a moment that would have capped a commanding display.

His performance mattered even more given the cloud hanging over Tom Renaud. The Frenchman’s nasty-looking midweek injury could sideline him for some time, and Hearts needed reassurance that someone could step into that void. Mendy offered exactly that.

Yet for all the attacking fluency, the old frailty remained.

St Johnstone struck early, another soft concession that will infuriate Vrancken. One lapse, one simple move, and Hearts were picking the ball out of their own net again. The pattern is becoming too familiar for comfort.

As the minutes ticked by, the earlier sharpness began to fray. Simple passes went astray. Routines that looked slick in the first half turned ragged. Decision-making slipped, touches grew heavy, and the home side’s control ebbed away. Mental fatigue joined the physical strain, and by the closing stages Hearts were clinging on rather than cruising.

They survived. That, at least, is something. The final whistle brought relief and a much-needed injection of belief ahead of Thursday night’s Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, where this kind of looseness at the back will be ruthlessly tested.

For St Johnstone, the story could easily have gone another way.

Conceding the goals they did, and as early as they did, many teams would have folded. Dundee United did exactly that on their recent trip to Gorgie, collapsing to a 4-0 defeat as the game ran away from them. This Saints side refused to follow that script.

Valakari’s men steadied themselves, then started to push back. They wrestled momentum away from Hearts, grew braver on the ball and carved out several clear chances to level the match.

The revival began in midfield. Former Hearts player Jason Holt and Sam Stanton drove their team forward with tireless, intelligent work in the centre of the pitch. They snapped into challenges, kept possession moving and gave Saints a platform to build on.

Ahead of them, Jamie Gullan worked the channels, while substitutes Taylor Steven and Kai Fotheringham injected fresh energy and menace. Hearts, once so dominant, suddenly looked stretched and anxious.

The problem for St Johnstone lay in the final act. Composure deserted them when it mattered most. Nothing summed that up more starkly than Josh Fowler’s big moment: he rounded Reus in the second half, the goal gaping, but hesitated. The shot never came. The chance vanished.

All the same, the signs are there. Like Hearts, this Saints side carries real threat in the attacking third. If they can tighten up their own defensive line and find a colder edge in front of goal, how different might these afternoons start to look?