KING OF HEARTS JUST PRICELESS
Shankland brace only adds to his value amid talk of Rangers move
FLICKING a pass from Aidan Denholm up into the air, Lawrence Shankland turned and almost nonchalantly dispatched the ball into the top-right corner to seal victory over St Mirren.
A late contender for goal of the year, it was a delivery that Santa Claus himself, frankly, will struggle to match tomorrow in terms of the explosion of sheer joy it brought to this corner of Edinburgh.
It was Shankland’s second goal of the afternoon as the price on the Hearts captain’s head continues to rise ahead of the January transfer window creaking open.
The 28-year-old has been linked with a switch to Rangers amid an injury crisis at Ibrox allied to poor summer recruitment by Michael Beale.
Shankland set tongues wagging by recently liking a social media post of the Ibrox side lifting the Viaplay Cup after last Sunday’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden.
But what’s unarguable is that with 10 goals in his last 11 matches — and 15 club goals in total for the season — Shankland is simply priceless to this Hearts side.
While the Gorgie supporters celebrated his latest gifts in the present day they must be fretting over their star man’s future amid that potential move along the M8 to Philippe Clement’s resurgent side.
Shankland’s two-goal salvo here was enough to see off a stubborn St Mirren and keep Hearts third in behind Celtic and Rangers, two points clear of in-form Kilmarnock.
It saw the capital club build on last weekend’s fine 2-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead to make it six wins in eight league games for Steven Naismith’s side.
Capping a fine day for Hearts was the return to the starting line-up of defender Craig Halkett for the first time since picking up a serious cruciate knee ligament injury against Dundee at Dens Park last Christmas Eve.
Halkett had very little to do early on as Hearts pressed for an opening goal.
But there was an early yellow card for Alex Gogic when the St Mirren defender hauled back Denholm on the edge of the box. Alex Cochrane saw his 18 yard freekick fly just wide of the post.
Denholm then saw a drive rise just over the St Mirren bar while up the other end, Saints midfielder Keanu Baccus fired a free-kick from range wide.
When the breakthrough came 12 minutes before the break, it was no surprise that Shankland provided it.
After charging down a clearance, Cochrane sent over a deep cross to the back post.
Shankland was there lurking and he dived to meet the ball and his header flew off keeper Zach Hemming and into the back of the St Mirren net.
There was a brief scare when it was announced that VAR were checking to see if the Scotland striker had been offside. But it took just seconds to confirm that the goal would stand.
Just before half-time, Hearts keeper Zander Clark went to ground with an injury. Was the script set for a fairytale return for Craig Gordon?
Almost one year ago — 364 days, to be exact — the Scotland keeper had suffered what looked a careerending double leg break against Dundee at Dens Park, in the same match Halkett was also injured.
The sight of the 40-year-old warming up along the touchline nearly brought the house down at Tynecastle. But Clark was able to carry on and Hearts supporters swiftly sang his name instead.
As the first half came to an end, Stephen Robinson became involved in an animated exchange of views with Hearts fans behind the dugout.
It was a reminder why Sky Sports’ new innovation of mic’ing up Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery during the upcoming Edinburgh derby has not been universally welcomed by rival bosses, including his Tynecastle rival Naismith.
Just after the break came that moment of magic from Shankland as he sent the ball high into the net as Tynecastle erupted with festive joy.
The Hearts captain was denied a hat-trick that his fine display deserved when he was fed in the
box by Beni Baningime. Shankland poked the ball towards goal but Hemming was alert and the Saints keeper made a decent save.
By now the Paisley side looked crestfallen but to their credit they kept going in a bid to get back into the match.
Clark saved a Gogic header then when the Scotland international was beaten by a Thierry Small shot, Kye Rowles was there to clear the ball off the line.
Clark ended the match with a ninth clean sheet in 18 league games but Hearts should have extended their lead when substitute MacAuley Tait had a clear sight of goal in the final moment but could only shoot straight at Hemming.
For St Mirren, this was a fourth defeat in six matches as Robinson’s early-season pace-setters dropped down to fifth place.
But this match was all about Hearts and Shankland in particular as he continued to stake his claim for a place on the plane to Euro 2024 in Germany.
On this form, Steve Clarke can’t help but be impressed. However, the concern for Hearts fans, as Naismith would confirm at full time, is that clubs are sitting up and taking note of Shankland’s remarkable goalscoring exploits ahead of the window opening on New Year’s Day.