Claudio Braga and Stephen Kingsley were on target as a resurgent Hearts won 2-0 away to Falkirk to move six points clear at the top of the William Hill Premiership.
Buoyed by ending a four-match winless run with last Sunday’s triumph over title rivals Celtic, the Jambos took an early lead through Braga.
Hearts – who survived a Bairns penalty just before half-time – had to dig deep to keep their advantage intact before substitute Kingsley killed Bairns’ hopes of getting back into the game with a brilliant strike in the 77th minute.
Having failed to score in their previous three matches, Falkirk made four changes to the side which lost 3-0 at Hibernian with Sam Hart, Kyrell Wilson, Alfredo Agyeman and Henry Cartwright all added.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes sent out the same team that started the 2-1 win at Celtic Park and the league leaders got off to the perfect start by opening the scoring after just 65 seconds.
Lawrence Shankland’s powerful shot from just outside the area was deflected under the crossbar by Scott Bain and the Falkirk keeper was unable to recover in time to prevent Braga following up to nod the loose ball four yards out.
After overcoming that initial setback, the Bairns began to gain a foothold and Jambos goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow had to act smart to latch onto a Calvin Miller shot that deflected past Michael Steinwender.
A couple of dangerous deliveries into the Hearts box within minutes of each other forced Craig Halkett and then Steinwender to scramble the ball behind for corners.
After a run of four without a win, Hearts have now won two in a row.
The visitors remained a threat, however, and Shankland curled just beyond the far post after being teed up on the left, just inside the box, by Braga.
Shankland then created another opportunity from a tight angle after good work from Alexandros Kyziridis and Braga to set it up.
At the other end, Filip Lissah fired a shot just wide of the 20-yard mark.
There was a flashpoint two minutes before half-time when Falkirk had a penalty claim denied.
Wilson ran onto a through ball from Agyeman and rounded Schwolow, but Harry Milne slid in to block the striker’s effort with his forearm just in front of the line. Following a VAR check, no shots on goal were awarded as the left-back’s arm was considered to have gone into his body.
Just before the hour, Hearts winger Kyziridis saw a shot deflected by Hart and from the resulting corner, Braga saw a header turned away by Bain.
Kingsley replaced Milne in the 74th minute and had the net rippling within three minutes as he fired a superb strike on the rebound from 20 yards out, leaving the mobile support delighted.
What’s happening in the Scottish Premiership?
