Motherwell 0 Hearts 1
Last updated 15th Sep 2018
Carl McHugh's short back-pass proved extremely costly for Motherwell as Hearts extended their lead at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a 1-0 victory at Fir Park.
McHugh had arguably been the best player on the park for the first 27 minutes, keeping powerful Hearts striker Uche Ikpeazu firmly in check.
But the Irishman was guilty of playing a textbook hospital ball to his goalkeeper, Trevor Carson, which set up a 50-50 with the biggest and strongest player in the Hearts team, Ikpeazu.
The ball broke for Steven Naismith to slot home from 20 yards and worse was to come for Motherwell as Carson crumpled to the ground before being carried off with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Hearts never looked back from the gift as they made it a perfect 15 points and moved five clear at the top of the table as manager Craig Levein watched from the stand following his recent health scare.
Motherwell had looked the more dangerous team in the opening quarter. Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal pulled off a flying save from Curtis Main's first-time volley and then turned Richard Tait's strike behind his near post when the Motherwell wing-back might have been better playing the ball across the face of goal.
Defender Jimmy Dunne also came to Hearts' rescue when he got his head to Peter Hartley's volley to divert it just over the bar.
Carson was fully behind Callumn Morrison's strike in the only time Hearts had threatened with a quick break, but the game turned on McHugh's slightly under-hit pass as Naismith netted his ninth goal of the season.
Former Carlisle and Walsall goalkeeper Mark Gillespie came on for his Premiership debut and was under pressure immediately when Peter Haring headed Olly Lee's free-kick just off target.
Zlamal made a couple of comfortable saves as Motherwell tried to hit back before half-time and clutched McHugh's header just after the interval as the defender glimpsed the chance of atonement from Gael Bigirimana's cross.
But Hearts went on to manage the game well and gave Gillespie the chance to display his talent as the goalkeeper pulled off good stops from Dunne's header and Demetri Mitchell's strike.
Motherwell brought on Elliott Frear and Ryan Bowman as they chased an equaliser but Hearts handed a debut to centre-back Clevid Dikamona as they brought on an extra defender to look even more comfortable.
The visitors, who gave Arnuad Djoum 90 minutes of action in his first start for six months, also came close to a second through both Lee and Ikpeazu.