Marvin Bartley’s Livingston side held Hearts to an enthralling 2-2 draw in Livingston, despite going behind in the second half.
Derek McInnes and 7,000 Hearts fans travelled to Livingston in hope to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
However, bottom of the table Livingston held the table toppers to a draw, in what was a massive blow for Hearts in their chase for the Scottish Premiership.
Hearts took the lead early in the second half, courtesy of Claudio Braga. After himself and Lawrence Shankland combined to put Hearts ahead.
And it looked like Hearts would then find comfort and potentially extend their lead. But Lewis Smith had other ideas, as he found an equaliser for the hosts in the 58th minute.
Livingston showed fantastic belief and character throughout the match and were rewarded with a well-deserved point. They could have even won all three points in the closing stages. When Robbie Muirhead was found through on goal, before being cynically fouled by Marc Leonard, resulting in a red card after a VAR check.
After the strong performance, Marvin Bartley said: “I was proud of them, because it’s very easy when you’ve got 7,000 Hearts supporters, you’re 2-1 down and bottom of the league to feel sorry for yourself. But they went the other way.
“I was really pleased with the way that they did play today. I thought Rangers here as well, we did extremely well. And in parts again, away to Celtic.
“This team will keep on fighting. We take every game in isolation, because if you start looking at the league table at 2-1 down, you probably don’t get the reaction that they did give you.
“Hearts fans probably came here today and thought it was going to be an easy game. But we came back into the game, and we were pushing for a winner at the end.”
An unfortunate season for Livingston. However, since the introduction of Bartley, there has been strong performances in recent times against the top three. It demonstrates that Bartley and his side will not stop pushing until its mathematically over.
