Hearts remain at the basement of the William Hill Premiership after losing 1-0 to 10-man Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The hosts appeared to be up against it after defender Robbie Deas was sent off in the first ten minutes for a harsh challenge on Kenneth Vargas.
But Bruce Anderson’s penalty handed Killie the lead, and they could have extended it, with Hearts custodian Craig Gordon making crucial stops to deny Marley Watkins and David Watson.
Hearts hit the crossbar twice through Musa Drammeh and Yan Dhanda, but they fell short against the ten men.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes made two changes from the previous match against Dundee United, bringing in Bobby Wales and Watkins, while Craig Halkett and Drammeh replaced the injured Frankie Kent and the suspended Lawrence Shankland.
Hearts were inches away from grabbing the lead after only one minute when Kilmarnock custodian Robby McCrorie fumbled a corner, allowing Drammeh to volley against the inside of the post.
The home team escaped with that one, but moments later, Deas landed hard on Vargas’ ankle.
Referee Don Robertson initially handed a yellow card to the Killie defender before increasing it to red after being shown on the screen by VAR Gavin Duncan.
The referee had had a busy start to the encounter, and he was engaged again after a quarter of an hour, awarding Kilmarnock a penalty when James Penrice caught Joe Wright in the corner of the box.
Anderson stepped up and calmly tucked the ball to the left of Gordon, giving Killie the lead.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Kilmarnock should have extended their lead in the 28th minute when Watkins was put clear through, but Gordon came out to make a crucial save.
Watkins came near again in the 40th minute, latching onto Fraser Murray’s cutback, but Penrice made a crucial block.
Hearts had struggled since the red card, and Alan Forrest’s low effort was easily saved by McCrorie as the first 45 minutes came to a close.
Kilmarnock had the first chance of the second half in the 48th minute when Brad Lyons drove forward and released Watson, but the Killie substitute’s low shot was superbly saved by Gordon.
Kilmarnock had another chance in the 54th minute, when Watkins cut the ball back for Liam Donnelly, but his deflected drive went agonisingly wide.
Hearts were still looking toothless, so manager Neil Critchley made four substitutions before the hour mark, bringing on Liam Boyce, James Wilson, Jorge Grant, and Dhanda.
Wilson almost had an instant impact when Cammy Devlin got the Killie defence off guard and cut the ball back, but the young striker’s attempt was blocked.
Kieran O’Hara had replaced McCrorie in the home goal at halftime, and he was called into action in the 73rd minute, getting down low to deflect a low Penrice shot away from danger.
Substitute Dhanda believed he had saved a point for the visitors in stoppage time, but his looping drive bounced past the crossbar, giving Kilmarnock a well-deserved win.
After the game, Critchley stated, “I’m more than dissatisfied. I was astounded by what I just witnessed. I thought we started the game well, especially in the first three minutes, but the sending off changes the trajectory of the game. We got caught up in the game’s emotion for the following ten minutes, with the fans involved, and we made terrible judgements with the ball during that time, as well as the rest of the game.
“We also made poor decisions off the ball, one of which resulted in a penalty that cost us the game.” But after that, we’ve had plenty of time to get back into the game, and we didn’t create anywhere near enough quality,intelligence, our decision-making was woeful. It’s like we forgot where the goal was. And I can assure you the message was: ‘We need to ask questions of the defence.’
“They planned to place guys behind the ball and defend low. When you defend low, there isn’t much room behind you. They offer you the room in front, and all we did was play in front of them, into their hands, and we didn’t do nearly enough. It was as if we accepted what was happening on the pitch, and I was astounded by what I witnessed.
“They intended to position players behind the ball and defend low. When you defend low, there is little space behind you. They offer you the room in front, and all we did was play in front of them, into their hands, which wasn’t quite enough. It was as if we accepted what was happening on the pitch, and I was stunned by what I saw.
“We’ve lost games, but even when we’ve lost, we’ve shown desire, hunger, gone all the way to the end, and played with aggression and insensitivity, which we haven’t shown today. Looking at our level of performance after playing in Europe, we’ve done well in some challenging games. We have not always won, but this was not a terrific performance. It was a million miles from that. I honestly hope that was an isolated incident. If not, we will have an issue. Only time will tell, and the next few performances will teach me a lot.”
