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By KEVIN MCKENNA Published: 05: 52 AEDT, 4 January 2026 | Updated: 05: 58 AEDT, 4 January 2026 View comments Hearts’ rise to the top of the Premiership table has been defined by statement wins over the big guns. Celtic, Rangers and Hibernian have all been put to the sword over the past few months, but if the Tynecastle men are to go on and end the campaign as champions, they may well look back on this as one of the most important. For 45 minutes, Hearts were relentless. But for long periods in the second half, they were right under the cosh. On another day, they might have slipped up. Fortunately, Derek Mc Innes’ side are every bit as good at the back as they are going forward — and they needed to be here. After it seemed like they would coast to a comfortable win having taken a first-half lead through Craig Halkett, they had to rely on their defensive grit in order to come through unscathed. It would have been unthinkable had they not taken advantage of this golden opportunity to move six points ahead of the Old Firm following Rangers’ win at Celtic Park a couple of hours earlier. Job done in that respect. They now travel to Dundee before hosting St Mirren, and maximum points from those are a must if they are to keep the chasing pack at arms’ length. Mc Innes will hope those fixtures won’t be quite as nervy as this. Hearts celebrate taking a first-half lead against Livingston Craig Halkett finds space to head in the only goal of the game and earn three points He said: ‘I think in the cold light of day, (it’s) three points, three very important points, a clean sheet, I’ve got to be pleased with a lot of what was on show today. ‘I think it shows exactly how difficult this league is at times. There’s a consequence every time you miss a chance, there’s a consequence of being careless and not getting that second goal. ‘At our best today, we looked like a team who should be at the top of the league and really great to watch. And in our poorer moments in the game, the gap was too big. 'So we need to make sure that when we can’t be as flamboyant, as creative and as free-flowing as we were at times, then we just be a bit more secure with our work. ’ It didn’t take Mc Innes’ side long to hit their stride, and they should have gone in front within 10 minutes. Alexandros Kyziridis found Lawerence Shankland at the back post, and he cushioned a lovely pass across goal which wasn’t finished off by the sliding Tomas Magnusson. Kyziridis and Claudio Braga both had efforts blocked from close range shortly after, with Livi already in last-ditch-defending mode. It was only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken, and it duly arrived courtesy of a familiar source in Craig Halkett on the 18th minute. He rose unchallenged inside the area to steer a wonderful header into the far corner of the net to claim his sixth of the campaign. Astonishing numbers for a centre-half. Harry Milne watches on as his header is saved by Jerome Prior as Livi stayed in the contest The assist came from the impressive Jordi Altena, thrown in for his Hearts debut for after joining from Dutch side RKC Waalwijk just a few days ago. The 22-year-old is the latest unknown quantity to be plucked from the database of Jamestown Analytics, and on this evidence the Jambos are on to another winner. Jerome Prior had to react quickly to push Ryan Mc Gowan’s misdirected header away from danger after the Livi captain tried to clear his lines, before Magnusson’s goalbound effort — from another Altena pull back — was blocked by Brooklyn Kabongolo on the line as Hearts threatened to run riot. Harry Milne should have doubled the home side’s advantage on the stroke of half-time, flying in at the back stick to power a header goalward from Shankland’s dink. Somehow, Prior got a hand to it. You genuinely feared for the keeper’s safety when he copped an earful from manager David Martindale after opting to punch rather than collect a cross just moments before his side fell behind. Perhaps he ended the half in his gaffer’s good books after all, though, as this would have been done and dusted before the interval were it not for the Frenchman’s heroics. His colleagues were likely on the receiving end of a rocket, mind you. It had the desired effect, and Livi came so close to an equaliser five minutes after the restart. Connor Mc Lennan picked out an unmarked Mo Sylla in the six-yard box, but the big man was clearly as shocked as everyone else inside Tynecastle to find himself in such a position, and sclaffed his header off target. Livingston simply cannot afford to pass up opportunities like that. Their lack of cutting edge has killed them all season and unless they can find a solution in this transfer window, a quick return to the second tier looks like a formality. Devlin is brought down illegally as Hearts toiled to see off a resolute Livingston Tete Yengi showed a flash of quality in the final third to engineer half a yard inside the Hearts box with 25 to play, but the right boot of Alexander Schwolow kept the striker’s subsequent strike out. Martindale — who also revealed that a few ‘home truths’ were told following the woeful midweek defeat to Dundee United — saw enough from his players to give him confidence that they can start climbing the table. ‘I thought the second half, the players were very good, ’ he said. ‘I thought they tried to make passes and controlled parts of the game. I felt we created enough chances to take something from the game. ‘I’m probably leaving here disappointed with the result, but there are positives within the performance and the boys can take belief from that. ’ This could have been a much more interesting final quarter had Livi kept their foot on the gas. But to their credit, Hearts eventually got to grips with them and managed to grind out the result. Another step — albeit a shaky one — towards the ultimate prize.
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