Hearts ended a run of five consecutive defeats to record a much-needed 2-0 win over St Johnstone at Tynecastle this evening.

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Goals from Ryan Stevenson and John Sutton were enough to seal all three points for the Edinburgh club.

Stevenson broke the deadlock with his fourth goal of the season on 31 minutes.

Arvydas Novikovas broke down the right and squared to Michael Ngoo, whose shot was blocked by Alan Mannus, but the rebound fell kindly for Stevenson to fire home into an empty net.

Ngoo almost made it 2-0 midway through the second half, but his side-footed effort from six yards drifted just wide of the left post.

Hearts did double their lead seven minutes from time, as Ngoo won possession on the edge of the box and pulled the ball back for Sutton to tap in.

Hearts climb one place to 10th in the Scottish Premier League table, while St Johnstone remain fifth.