Jonatan Johansson struck a late winner as St Johnstone came from behind to beat 10-man Hearts.
Super-sub componds misery for 10-man Hearts
Substitute Jonatan Johansson struck a late winner as St Johnstone came from behind to beat 10-man Hearts.
Christian Nade ended his nine-month goal drought for the hosts in the 35th minute but Saints hit back in the second half to inflict more misery on Jambos boss Csaba Laszlo.
Top scorer Collin Samuel claimed a 60th-minute equaliser before Jose Goncalves was controversially shown a straight red card and Johansson won it three minutes from time with his first goal for Saints.
Hearts are now without a win in six league games and have slipped below St Johnstone into the relegation mix.
Laszlo made two changes with Gary Glen and David Obua in for Andrew Driver and Arvydas Novikovas, while Stuart McCaffrey deputised for the visitors as Graham Gartland failed to shake off a shoulder problem.
Fast start
Hearts made a fast start with Glen's early effort from distance held by Graeme Smith and Saints appeared lucky to get away with an apparent backpass after Danny Grainger cushioned the ball to Smith, but referee Stevie O'Reilly was unmoved.
Filipe Morais' angled shot for Saints was easy for Janos Balogh and Derek McInnes felt his team had a decent penalty claim in the 20th minute after Goncalves caught Kenny Deuchar with a boot on the head, but O'Reilly appeared to miss the incident.
The home supporters were becoming frustrated at the lack of entertainment as Hearts struggled to create openings and Glen again testing Smith from long range.
Yet Nade broke the stalemate in emphatic fashion as the Frenchman unleashed a 25-yard strike which whistled across Smith into the bottom right corner - his first goal since February.
Saints failed in a second penalty claim as Murray Davidson went down just after the restart, while Jason Thomson toe-poked just wide for the Jambos and Smith made a fine reflex save from Obua.
Important change
But McInnes had made a half-time switch with Kevin Moon replacing Chris Millar and the change gradually helped the visitors get the upper hand, with Balogh having to deny Morais after he latched on to a Deuchar flick.
Then on the hour mark, Morais did well on the left to twist past Thomson and plant a cross on the head of Samuel, who nodded home for his seventh of the season.
Samuel went within inches of giving Saints the lead as his angled drive flew across Balogh's goal and Jody Morris went even closer on 76 minutes as his close-range volley from a Craig cross was brilliantly blocked by Balogh.
The momentum was firmly with McInnes' men from the 77th minute as Hearts were controversially reduced to 10 men.
Controversial red card
O'Reilly brandished a straight red card at Goncalves for a high challenge on Craig, but the decision looked harsh and Hearts vented their anger.
Saints then sought to use their man advantage and had a fine chance when Dave Mackay picked out Craig at the back post but the midfielder's weak effort was deflected over.
McInnes threw on Johansson in search of victory and within a minute the Finland international grabbed the winner.
Mackay pounced as Obua failed to usher the ball out of play before Craig headed Morris' cross back across goal, allowing Johansson to open his Saints account with an easy tap-in.
