Hallberg pulls the strings as Saints rally for vital victory
ST JOHNSTONE’S Melker Hallberg was the star of the show in a massive victory for the club as Hearts’ desperate wait for a victory at McDiarmid continues.
The former Hibernian midfielder, one of many January signings impressing, set up Ali Crawford for the opener after 52 seconds before Jamie McCart converted the Swede’s 57th-minute free-kick.
Nathaniel Atkinson netted his first goal for Hearts but it was yet another poor afternoon in Perth for Robbie Neilson’s side, who have not won at the venue for 10 years.
A frantic opening 10 minutes saw two goals and the woodwork struck twice before the heavy pitch took its toll. Hearts hit the bar and had the ball stopped on the line during a late rally but lacked a cutting edge and have now lost to the bottom side in their last two league matches.
It was just St Johnstone’s second win in 13, though they have lost just once since their embarrassing Scottish Cup exit to Kelty Hearts.
“I thought Melker Hallberg was outstanding today, along with the rest of the players,” said manager Callum
Davidson. “It’s about having that confidence and having that belief in themselves. I think you can see it coming back.
“I’ve seen it, probably from after the Kelty game, you can see that belief come back into them and we want to start climbing the league and putting teams under pressure.”
St Johnstone were without goalkeeper Zander Clark, one of several to hobble off in the midweek draw at Pittodrie. Elliot Parish deputised, and while left helpless for the equaliser in the second half he kept out a close-range John Souttar header and stopped the ball crossing the line in an intense goalline scramble.
Hallberg was one of those to sustain injury versus Aberdeen but recovered to start. He was instantly involved as St Johnstone took the lead within a minute. The 26-year-old collected Glenn Middleton’s pass and cut back for Crawford at the edge of the box to stroke the ball beyond Ross Stewart, making his first appearance of the season with Craig Gordon missing due to illness.
On five minutes Hearts were level when Atkinson reacted quickest to plant the ball into the far bottom corner after Barrie McKay’s curling effort came back off the post.
Soon after Ellis Simms hit the post from a scrappy second ball, though the half was subsequently light on chances.
St Johnstone began the second half better, with Hallberg shooting inches wide from range. On 57 minutes he was again involved when an unmarked McCart leapt to head his floated free-kick beyond Stewart.
Neilson responded with a triple-substitution but the frustrations continued as the bar and some excellent goalkeeping denied them a route back in.
It leaves Hearts without a victory over 90 minutes in their last five.
“The last two weeks haven’t been good enough for us,” said Neilson. “For the level we have shown having come up from the Championship.
“We’re going through a wee dip at the moment and we need to get back to what we are good at.”