THE notion that Hearts might just be ready to finally break Glasgow’s stranglehold on Scotland’s top flight already felt fanciful before a ball had been kicked in anger. The events that transpired when it did suggested there’s more chance of the next Edinburgh derby ending in handshakes and cuddles than the trophy making its way to the capital.
On the day where Celtic suffocated Rangers - ostensibly, their nearest rivals for the title - Hearts were running out of ideas in West Lothian, eventually succumbing in timid fashion to a resolutely impressive Livingston.
That Robbie Neilson’s team never looked like responding to Cristian Montano’s fine winner said as much about the relentlessness of Livi as it did the impotence of his team, who ended the day below Aberdeen in fourth. The good news? It’s the small matter of Istanbul Basaksehir to come on Thursday.
“For 20 minutes, I thought we played well,” said Neilson. “Then we got caught up in the game.
“If you play Livingston's style of play, they'll beat you because they're better at it so you have to play your own game.”
This was a first-half of two distinct halves. One in which Hearts had Livingston on the ropes, Robbie Neilson’s five changes from the Kilmarnock loss midweek charging towards their hosts’ goal with some abandon. The second saw Livi weather that storm, gain a foothold in the game, and head into the break disappointed they had just the one-goal lead.
Once again David Martindale opted for less is more, with James Penrice (in for Andrew Shinnie) the only alteration from their own League Cup defeat, whereas Hearts’ meagre surrender prompted Robbie Neilson to call on a cohort of replacements led by new signing Stephen Humphyrs. Taking to the Almondvale turf like a duck to water in those early moments, the Wigan loanee certainly didn’t look fazed by the daunting prospect of shouldering the loss of Liam Boyce.
Within ten minutes, he’d already escaped the grasp of Ayo Obileye with ease, slipping away to send Gary Mackay-Steven’s inviting cross narrowly over the crossbar, before cleverly letting the ball run into the feet of Barrie McKay. The winger’s inch-perfect was carelessly blasted into the stand by Jorge Grant.
Livingston needed to get to grips with the game. Somehow. Cue a clever switch that saw Joel Nouble shunted back out onto the wing, tasked with reining in McKay’s advances and giving Cristian Montano more freedom to go the other way. It worked.
Inch by inch, they worked their way into more dangerous areas and, when they won a free kick, finally pounced. That it was as much to do with Montano’s fine finish as it was Hearts’ defence - sure of an offside flag that never came - stopping in their tracks like they’d collectively been frozen in time, will have infuriated Neilson.
But take nothing away from the scorer and game’s best player. He picked up Holt’s fine delivery, swivelled and sent the ball beyond Craig Gordon for 1-0.
Suddenly, it was Hearts who looked spooked, and it could so easily have been 3-0 to Livingston by the break. First, Matano’s rampaging run into the box ended with the ball in Gordon’s side netting, before Esmael Gonçalves somehow failed to convert Penrice’s fine cutback.
Neilson waited all of 12 minutes after the break - 12 minutes in which Montano’s star continued to shine brightest - to call on the cavalry, with Lawrence Shankland, Peter Haring and Alan Forrest asked to arrest the momentum of a game that was slowly slipping away from Hearts.
Still, Livingston, playing with some gusto, looked the far likelier to score the match’s second. Dylan Bahamboula showed clever feet to get away from Alex Cochrane, his teasing delivery just evading Nouble, before Stephane Omeonga - again, a Livi standout - put a touch too much curl on a wayward effort. George’s goal continued to go untroubled, Hearts desperately lacking any real invention to prise open the yellow rearguard.
Were it not for a string of fine Gordon saves (how many times has that been written in the last few years?) there could so easily have been some gloss on the scoreline. It would have been the least Livingston deserved.
“I think it’s his brother who’s playing!” said Martindale of Montano. “He’s been one of our best players this season and I’m delighted with him.”
