Hearts 1 - 2 St Johnstone - match report
Published Date: 21 November 2009
By Martin Dempster
CSABA LASZLO has admitted he's been in touch with Vladimir Romanov to seek talks with the Hearts board after watching the Gorgie club slip down the Clydesdale Bank SPL table after this home defeat made it six games in the league without a win.

Christian Nade's first goal since February earned them a first-half lead but Colin Samuel headed St Johnstone back on level terms before Hearts were reduced to ten men when Jose Goncalves was shown a straight red card for what referee Stevie O'Reilly deemed to be a reckless challenge on substitute Liam Craig.

And, just a minute after he'd been thrown on by Saints manager Derek McInnes, former Hibs striker Jonatan Johansson grabbed the winner for the visitors as he shot home from close range after a cross from man of the match Jody Morris had been headed back into the middle by Kenny Deuchar.

Afterwards, Laszlo revealed he's had a ten-minute conversation with Romanov through an interpreter and said: "I have aksed to speak to the board because I have my opinion and we need to look at what is possible."

Keen to start the second quarter of the season on a positive note, Hearts had started the game well, Gary Glen forcing a save from Graeme Smith in the opening minute before a great ball from David Obua sent Nade charging into the box only to see his shot have the sting taken out of it by a defender.

Smith then did well to parry away a cross from Nade after he'd got to the byline and, seconds later, Ian Black almost gave Hearts what would have been a deserved early breakthrough. Nade fed Obua on the left and his low cross was met by Black but, under pressure from Danny Grainer, he was unable to hit the target as he slid in.

Morris shot straight at Janos Balogh as Hearts lost the early spark that had been in their play but, to the delight of the home fans, the deadlock was broken in spectacular fashion by Nade in the 35th minute.

After picking up the ball in a central position just over 25 yards, the Frenchman took a touch before thundering an unstoppable right-foot shot past the helpless Smith.

It was Hearts' first goal in four SPL outings and, a minute later, they could have doubled their advantage, Ruben Palazuelos squandering a good chance after an attemted shot from Goncalves had broken perfectly for him on the edge of the six-yard box.

Full-back Jason Thomson sent in right-foot shot as Hearts finished the first-half on top, but, helped by the introduction of youngster Kevin Moon at the break, St Johnstone started to gain the upper hand in the second-half.

Their equaliser, which came in the 59th minute, was created by Filipe Morais, the former Hibs man sending over a delightful cross from a tight position in the corner and Samuel headed home with Balogh rooted to the ground.

At that point, Hearts had become a shadow of the side that had started the game positively and they found themselves having to play out the last 13 minutes of the game with ten men after Goncalves got his marching orders.

The Portuguese defender certainly had his foot high as he went in to challenge Craig and the referee had no hesitation in bradishing the red yard, but Goncalves clearly felt he'd been hard done by as he trudged down the tunnel.

Seeing an oppportunity to turn one point into three, McInnes threw on Johansson and that decision paid off handsomely for the visitors with just four minutes to go as the former Hibs man scored his first goal since signing for the Perth men.

Hearts: Balogh, Wallace, Goncalves, Palazuelos, Black (sub: C Thomson 73), Obua (sub: Kingston 87), Nade, J Thomson, Bouzid, Stewart, Glen (sub: Witteveen 67). Subs: Kello, Jonsson, Novikovas, Mulrooney.

St Johnstone: Smith, Mackay, Grainer, Rutkiewicz, McCaffrey, Morris, Millar (sub: Moon 46), Davidson (sub: Johansson 85), Deuchar, Samuel, Morais (sub: Craig 65). Subs: Main, Irvine, Durnan, May.

Referee: S O'Reilly.

Taken from the Scotsman