Kilmarnock 0-2 Hearts

Bruno Aguiar leathered home to break a horrendous run of 487 goalless minutes.

But they only had to wait 20 more for their next one after Christos Karipidis thundered a header home.

Despite heading into the break with a one-goal lead, Cszaba Laszlo admitted he had to give him men a half-time rollicking.

He said: “It was necessary to go into the dressing room and talk about the importance of the game.

“It wasn’t a fantastic football game but we won.

“It was important to fight back and hold on to our position in the table. We must collect points if we would like to be in the top six.”

Aguiar – making his first appearance of 2009 following a minor injury – was one of five players coming into injury-hit Hearts.

Although the visitors struggled to launch any serious attacks, Killie survived a mild scare when Alan Combe flapped at an Andrew Driver corner.

At the other end, Hearts defended brilliantly from a Killie centre moments later.

The Jambos defence blocked shots from Frazer Wright, Craig Bryson and Danny Invincibile deep inside the box.

And Killie soon missed another great opportunity.

Garry Hay set up Invincibile with a back-post cross but the unmarked Australian headed wide from six yards.

Hearts looked more promising going forward after the restart, but their 61st-minute opener was still their first incisive move of the game.

Michael Stewart burst forward and exchanged passes with Aguiar before slipping the ball inside to the Portuguese midfielder, who fired into the corner of the net.

Killie had an instant chance to level but Russell sliced wide after Hay’s cross had bypassed everybody else.

But their fightback fizzled out and Karipidis put Hearts out of sight in the 80th minute.

Christophe Berra headed Stewart’s free-kick back across goal and the Greek midfielder headed down and into the net from six yards.