Sunday March 15th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Ewan Hornell
Hearts have spent so much of the season setting the pace for Rangers and Celtic to react to. But under the Saturday night lights at Killie Park, it was on them to respond to Celtic’s big win over Motherwell earlier in the day and bring their lead at the top back to five points.
Neil McCann’s Killie whilst still 11th can be a tricky side at home, it was only a few weeks ago that they were 2-0 at home to Celtic. A win for them would bring them level on points with St Mirren in 10th.
It was Findlay Curtis causing danger for Hearts through the opening exchanges.
He had a ricocheted volley tipped onto the post by Alexander Schwolow and then not long after he breezed past Michael Steinwender and hung up a fantastic ball to the back post which David Watson should have done better with.
If you’d have watched the opening 15 minutes with no knowledge of either side you may have assumed it was Kilmarnock who topped the league and not Hearts and their good start was rewarded not long after.
A whipped cross from Greg Kiltie found Michael Schjonning-Larsen sneaking in at the back post to tap it home for 1-0.
After the goal Kilmarnock became much more passive, swapping a high press for a defensive shell.
As he has been so often it was Claudio Braga who looked most likely of finding a way through the Killie defence.
He came close with a powerful left footed shot in the 22nd minute which was well saved by Kelle Roos.
Thomas Magnusson had a great opportunity, picking up the ball after Killie were careless in possession. He was able to wander unopposed to the edge of the box and get a shot off. However, he snatched at the effort couldn’t find the target.
And that would be his last significant continuation as shortly after he had to make way after suffering a head knock.
The second half brought changes for the league leaders. After a poor first half were he struggled to keep hold of the ball, constantly scrambling after his wayward first touch, Landry Kabore was replaced by Islam Chesnokov.
Even with changes and the large majority of possession Hearts struggled to carve themselves out any chances of note. They were left to settle for set pieces and speculative crosses which the Killie backline dealt with well.
In a night where Hearts struggled to create chances it was very apparent that when Braga isn’t firing, they lack any sort of imagination to break down sides with men behind the ball.
Mcinnes used every tool available to him, briefly changing to a back three and using all his subs including bringing off the earlier subbed on Islam Chesnokov. But, there was to be no breakthrough for Hearts.
Probably Hearts’ most disappointing performance of the season means Celtic grow closer, now only two points behind.
Here’s what Derek McInnes had to say post-match;
“I thought they played forward more and turned us better and in early part of games you’ve got to do that, particularly here. When you come away from home in this league to certain venues, you’ve got to make sure you play the conditions and opponent.
“We lose a poor goal, there’s so much wrong in the lead up. Not enough pressure on the ball and then having a Kilmarnock standing so free in the box.
“It’s a reminder to all the players, that with all these games coming up and so much on each and every game, that our efforts tonight weren’t enough and we didn’t show enough quality.”
Its Dundee at home next week for Hearts as they look to bounce back and despite the poor result, there is some positive news with Lawerence Shankland and Cammy Devlin being confirmed by McInnes to both be returning to training early next week.
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