Kilmarnock 1 – 0 Hearts happymamay

Hearts remain bottom of the Scottish Premiership after losing 1-0 to 10-man Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

It seemed that the home side faced a difficult task after defender Robbie Dees was sent off in the first ten minutes due to a strong challenge on Kenneth Vargas.

But Bruce Anderson’s penalty gave Killie the lead and they could have added to it, with Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon making huge saves to deny Marley Watkins and David Watson.

Hearts hit the woodwork twice through Musa Drameh and Yan Dhanda but they were disappointing against the ten men.

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes made two changes from the draw with Dundee United last time out, bringing on Bobby Wells and Watkins, while Craig Halkett and Drumme came in for Hearts, replacing the injured Frankie Kent and the suspended Lawrence Shankland.

Hearts were inches away from taking the lead after just a minute when Kilmarnock goalkeeper Robbie McCrory missed a corner kick, allowing Drameh to hit the inside of the post.

The hosts got away with that goal but were unlucky moments later as Dias badly injured Vargas’ ankle.

Referee Don Robertson initially issued a yellow card to the Kelly defender before upgrading it to red after being sent to a screen by VAR Gavin Duncan.

It was a busy start to the game for the referee and he was involved again a quarter of an hour later as he awarded a penalty for Kilmarnock after James Penrice caught Joe Wright late on from the corner of the box.

Anderson stepped up and coolly slotted the ball down Gordon’s left to give Kelly the lead.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, it was Kilmarnock who should have doubled the lead in the 28th minute when Watkins crossed the ball but Gordon came out and made a vital save.

Watkins again went close in the 40th minute when he latched on to a pass from Fraser Murray, but Penrice made a lively save.

Hearts had been poor since the red card and Alan Forrest saw a low shot easily saved by McCrory as the first 45 minutes expired.

Kilmarnock had the first chance of the second half in the 48th minute as Brad Lyons moved forward and released Watson but substitute Kelly saw his low shot blocked by Gordon.

Kilmarnock had another chance in the 54th minute when Watkins cut the ball back to Liam Donnelly whose deflected shot went wide.

Hearts still looked toothless and coach Neil Critchley made four changes before the hour mark, bringing on Liam Boyce, James Wilson, Jorge Grant and Dhanda.

Wilson almost made an instant impact when Cammy Devlin caught a snoozing Kelly defense and cut the ball back but the young striker saw his shot blocked.

Kieran O’Hara replaced McCrory in goal in the first half and was eventually called into action in the 73rd minute, dropping low to tip Penrice’s low shot wide to safety.

Substitute Dhanda thought he had saved a point for the visitors in stoppage time, but his shot rebounded off the crossbar, giving Kilmarnock a deserved win.

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