Hearts hit four past 10-man Raith Rovers

Hearts moved nine points clear at the top of the Championship with a dominant victory at 10-man Raith Rovers.

Rovers’ Jamie MacDonald was kept busy and made a series of good saves to keep the score down.

Regan Hendry was dismissed for a stamp on Andy Halliday before the interval and new Hearts striker Armand Gnanduillet added a late double.

The centre forward, signed this week, came on as a second-half substitute and followed up after a Jamie Walker shot had been saved before glancing in a smart header.

Walker was prominent in the early stages as Hearts looked in the mood to avenge Saturday’s shock 3-2 defeat to the same opponents.

His shot was brilliantly stopped by MacDonald and soon after he rounded the keeper but could only find the side-netting.

Boyce was thwarted by another excellent save but then lashed in an unstoppable strike after a smart one-two with Henderson, who had replaced the injured Josh Ginnelly.

MacDonald kept out two efforts in quick succession from Halliday only for Rovers to fall asleep at a corner, allowing Henderson to bundle in.

Lewis Vaughan was making his first Rovers start since September 2019, when he suffered the third serious knee injury of his career, but the hosts were completely overwhelmed.

And any hopes of a comeback were dashed on 40 minutes when Hendry was dismissed for an ugly reaction to a tangle with Halliday.

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson: “To come here and win 4-0 after Saturday is great for us. We didn’t start well enough on Saturday and that was the key thing.

“Gnanduillet hasn’t trained at all but he brings physicality and link play and it’s so hard to defend against him in the box.”

Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn: “Hearts started really well, they didn’t let us settle at all and we played into their hands with some careless passes.

“I was always worried about tonight because of how much Saturday took out of the boys and we were sluggish. The red card doesn’t help, so it was a matter of damage limitation against a class side.”