Claudio Braga, Stephen Kingsley and a resurgent Hearts beat a faltering Falkirk by a score of 2-0. The Jambos are now six points ahead at the top the William Hill Premiership after ending a run of four games without victory last Sunday with a win over title rivals Celtic.
Hearts, who had survived a Bairns claim for a penalty just before the halftime break, had to dig in to maintain their lead before Kingsley’s brilliant strike in 77th minute ended Bairns hopes of getting into the match.
Falkirk, who had failed to score in three of their previous matches, made four changes from the team that lost to Hibernian 3-0. Sam Hart, Kyrell, Alfredo Agyeman, and Henry Cartwright all were added.
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Claudio Braga’s goal came just a minute after the start of play
Hearts manager Derek McInnes selected the same team as the one that won 2-1 at Celtic Park. The league leaders started off the game in style by scoring within 65 seconds.
Scott Bain’s crossbar-side tip of Lawrence Shankland’s powerful outside-the box shot was too late to prevent Braga from nodding home the loose ball.
After overcoming the early setback, Bairns began to gain a foothold. Jambos keeper Alexander Schwolow was forced to act quickly to grab a shot by Calvin Miller which took a deflection from Michael Steinwender.
Two dangerous balls into the Hearts box in a short time forced Craig Halkett, and then Steinwender, to scramble for corners.
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Hearts are now back to winning after four consecutive losses
At the other end, Filip Lissah’s 20-yard shot was just off target. Falkirk also had a claim for a penalty waved aside two minutes before the half. Wilson raced onto a through ball by Agyeman, rounded Schwolow, but Harry Milne moved in to stop the attacker’s goalbound shot.
2025-12-13 21:50:00
