Heart of Midlothian 5
Ayr United 3
League (Championship)
Hearts |
5 - 3 |
Ayr United |
 |
League (Championship) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Stephen Kingsley (11) Craig Wighton (68) Olly Lee (71) Craig Wighton (74) Liam Boyce (81) |
Cammy Smith (57) Luke McCowan (60) Tom Walsh (90) |
| Team Managers | |
| Robbie Neilson |
Mark Kerr |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
1. Craig Gordon 2. Michael Smith 26. Craig Halkett 6. Christophe Berra 21. Stephen Kingsley 8. Olly Lee 19. Andy Irving 16. Andy Halliday 11. Jordan Roberts 10. Liam Boyce 24. Elliott Frear |
Vijami Sinisalo .1 Jack Baird .15 Paddy Reading .3 Aaron Muirhead .4 Michael Miller .8 Sam Roscoe .5 Andy Murdoch .6 Luke McCowan .11 Joe Chalmers .18 Michael Moffat .7 Cammy Smith .14 |
| Bench | |
|
5. Peter Haring 7. Jamie Walker 13. Ross Stewart 14. Steven Naismith 15. Craig Wighton 28. Mihai Popescu 31. Euan Henderson |
Ellis Hare Reid .19 Jordan Houston .2 Mark McKenzie .22 Tom Walsh .10 Mark Kerr .4 Dario Zanatta .19 Bruce Anderson .9 |
| Substitutions | |
|
Steven Naismith for Jordan Roberts (58) Craig Wighton for Elliott Frear (63) Peter Haring for Stephen Kingsley (78) |
Bruce Anderson for Michael Moffat (58) Tom Walsh for Joe Chalmers (78) Dario Zanatta for Cammy Smith (78) |
| Cautions | |
| None. | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
David Munro (Referee) |
Match Report
Substitute Craig Wighton made the difference as Scottish Championship leaders Hearts kept up their title push with a thrilling win over Ayr United.
The visitors recovered from Stephen Kingsley's early 30-yard opener to lead with second-half strikes from Cammy Smith and Luke McCowan at Tynecastle.
But Wighton equalised soon after coming on and Oli Lee restored Hearts' lead.
Wighton added his second and Liam Boyce made it 5-2 before Tom Walsh netted a consolation with the final kick.
After the agony of their Scottish Cup final shootout defeat to Celtic last weekend, Hearts' fourth straight league win keeps them three points clear of Dunfermline Athletic with a game in hand.
Ayr drop a place to sixth after a third league outing without victory.
Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson: "At 1-0 up we were comfortable but we never managed to get into second gear. We then lost two sloppy goals and that fired us into life.
"The big concern for us was coming off the back of a big game and disappointment last week, we had to make sure we were back at it again. The main thing was to get a victory."
Match report written by BBC
Squad Statistics (as at December 26th, 2020)
| 2020-21 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Vijami Sinisalo (GK) | 19 |
|
14 | - | 14 | - |
| Michael Miller | 25 |
|
13 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| Aaron Muirhead | 30 |
|
11 | - | 51 | 2 |
| Paddy Reading | 21 |
|
8 | - | 8 | - |
| Jack Baird | 24 |
|
14 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Sam Roscoe | 22 |
|
14 | - | 40 | 2 |
| Luke McCowan | 23 |
|
13 | 4 | 58 | 14 |
| Andy Murdoch | 25 |
|
13 | 1 | 64 | 3 |
| Joe Chalmers | 26 |
|
14 | - | 14 | - |
| Cammy Smith | 25 |
|
7 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Michael Moffat | 35 |
|
14 | 3 | 293 | 100 |
| Tom Walsh (sub) | 24 |
|
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dario Zanatta (sub) | 23 |
|
10 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Bruce Anderson (sub) | 22 |
|
11 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
League Table (as at December 26th, 2020)
No league table has been added for this season.