It's now two 1-0 defeats for Hearts in a matter of days as they warmed up for their Europa Conference League opener with another one.
Livingston were deserved winners at the Tony Macaroni and should have won by a bigger margin. Craig Gordon was easily the busier of the two goalkeepers with Livi's Shamal George barely troubled despite huffing and puffing from the Jambos, who have surrendered third place in the Premiership table to Aberdeen despite a late, late Ross County equaliser.
There was early chance for debutant Stephen Humphrys. Gary Mackay-Steven went down the left and floated a ball to the back post, where the on-loan Wigan man was arriving. However, the ball was slightly too high for him to volley home on the stretch and he sent it high and wide from close range. Barrie McKay then slipped a clever first-time ball to present Jorge Grant with a great chance. However, the midfielder's finished wasn't accurate enough and he sent a bending effort wide of goal.
Livi opened the scoring on 26 minutes. A somewhat soft free-kick was awarded against Toby Sibbick for a foul on Joel Nouble. The set piece was delivered to the back post where Cristian Montano stole in and fired past Gordon. The visiting players were demanding on offside flag, but replays showed that Humphrys was playing him on.
The hosts tails were up after that and Scott Pittman drove at the Hearts defence before working the ball left to Montano. He had a strike from a tight angle, but could only find the side netting.
It should have been 2-0 on 37 minutes. He burst beyond the Hearts back line before squaring for Isma Goncalves in acres of space. The former Hearts striker slid in and tried to guide the ball beyond Gordon, but somehow managed to send it wide of target with the goal gaping.
Montano continued to cause problems for Hearts. A determined run down the left took him into the box before he pulled back for Goncalves. He got a shot away but it was deflected wide by Stephen Kingsley.
Hearts weren't much better after the break and had Craig Gordon to thank for keeping the score at 1-0. Curtis Guthrie improves well with a backheel after a cross from the right landed at his feet, but the Scotland No1 threw out a strong right hand to keep it out before gathering.
He was at it again with just over ten minutes to go. Pittman's effort was goalbound until Gordon showed his agility to get a hand to it and tip it over the bar to make sure.
Offside?
Was Livi's goal offside? In a word, no. Montano certainly looked to have gone too early before finding the back of the net after a free-kick delivery from the left.
Several Hearts defenders made their way over to the far side assistant after referee Willie Collum double checked with him. But they'll see from the replays that Humphrys was just playing the Colombian on. A combination of just the one training session with his new teammates and a striker's lack of defensive nous probably the contributing factors.
Disappointing debut
Stephen Humphrys was handed an immediate debut after signing on loan from Wigan Athletic on deadline day. With next Thursday's Europa Conference League group stage opener against Istanbul Basaksehir in Robbie Neilson's mind, he opted to leave top scorer Lawrence Shankland on the bench.
Humphrys was presented with a good early chance by Gary Mackay-Steven, but the front man couldn't wrap his foot around the ball to guide it on target. He was starved of service after that, although showed glimpses of some impressive hold up play. Far too early to judge a player after one game, however.
Clean sheet worry
The Jambos have now gone nine games this season without keeping the opposition out. It's their worst run of that kind since their relegation season of 2013/14, when the gave up goals for 16 consecutive matches. They've no also conceded the first goal in their last six matches.
The capital club are making life difficult for themselves. They managed to turn it around against St Johnstone, but are giving themselves too much to do in games and with the likes of Liam Boyce out, are struggling to create enough to rectify the situation in time.
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