Hearts 1-0 St Johnstone

Hearts moved to within two points of second-placed Rangers in the Scottish Premier League after beating St Johnstone at Tynecastle.

The home side were in front as early as the third minute after Rudi Skacel slid home at the end of a swift breakaway.

Suso Santana, Skacel and Stephen Elliott had chances to give Hearts a more commanding lead.

Steven May had a couple of efforts for St Johnstone, his second forcing a save from Marian Kello late on.

Hearts next face an away match with Rangers on Wednesday, with the Ibrox side having two games in hand over Jim Jefferies' side.

The Tynecastle side were looking to bounce back from the midweek 4-0 defeat by Celtic and scored with their first attack after goalkeeper Kello collected a St Johnstone corner and released the ball upfield.

Gary Glen flicked the ball on to the overlapping Craig Thomson, who burst down the right flank and crossed low for Skacel to slide in and slam the ball into the net.

The home side were dominating the opening stages and should have moved further ahead when Lee Wallace's cross was missed by Skacel but fell invitingly for Suso Santana at the back post and only poor control by the winger let St Johnstone off the hook as goalkeeper Peter Enckelman gathered.

Skacel had another attempt minutes later when he ran on to a bouncing loose ball, but the midfielder caught his shot with the outside of his left foot and the effort swerved away from goal.

St Johnstone's Alan Maybury almost caught Enckelman out with defensive header back in to the six-yard box, but the goalkeeper adjusted well to collect and save the defender's blushes.

The visitors threatened when Liam Craig crossed for Murray Davidson on the edge of the box, but the midfielder's volley was well off target.

At the other end, Wallace's long throw was missed by Dave MacKay and Enckelman had to rush from his line to grab the ball as Suso tried to sneak in a header.

MacKay then came to Saints' rescue with a desperate clearance right in front of goal as Skacel lurked in anticipation of a tap-in after Enckelman had flapped at David Obua's driven cross.

St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes took decisive action in an attempt to change the pattern of the match with a double substitution before the break. Maybury and Sam Parkin were withdrawn and Cleveland Taylor and Steven May were introduced.

Saints posed more of an attacking threat after the interval and May volleyed wide after turning on the edge of the Hearts box.

Skacel was set up by Wallace after another rampaging run by the full-back, but the midfielder's shot was collected by Enckelman.

The Perth side quickly moved to the other end and Samuel drew a save from Kello.

Chances were few and far between in the closing half-hour, but Hearts' failure to put away their early chances gave Saints the encouragement to probe.

And the introduction of Peter MacDonald from the bench may have seemed ominous for the home crowd given the striker's winning goal in the recent Scottish Cup meeting of the two sides.

But the visitors could not find the right delivery when presented with opportunities to cross into the box.

And Hearts almost ended the game as they started - with a goal - as Andrew Driver turned the St Johnstone defence inside out and created two openings for fellow substitute Elliott, the first effort being off target and the second blocked by Steven Anderson's superb tackle.

St Johnstone made one late charge and Jody Morris's corner was missed by Kello - and Anderson knocked the ball back into the six-yard box, forcing Hearts to clear.

The result was confirmed when May's low drive was claimed at the near post by Kello.

Taken from the BBC