Jacob Murrell continued his fine Falkirk form with a goal in each halfSNS

Jacob Murrell continued his fine Falkirk form with a goal in each half

At a glance

  • Falkirk end Hearts' 26-game unbeaten Premiership home run to move third

  • Visitors storm into 4-0 half-time lead through Barbrook, Eames, Murrell and Henderson

  • Murrell makes it five before Guendouz and Braga penalty reduce deficit

Hearts v Falkirk highlights

8/11/2026

Watch on iPlayer
Stuart Mitchell
BBC Sport Scotland

Merciless Falkirk extended their Scottish Premiership winning run to five games and replaced Hearts in third spot with a brilliant victory at Tynecastle.

John McGlynn's players were sensational from the start as they inflicted Hearts' first home league defeat since April 2025, a 26-game run.

Hearts looked sluggish and found themselves 4-0 down at the break.

Jacob Murrell's effort was saved by Beau Reus, though unfocused defending allowed Finley Barbrook to pounce for his first Falkirk goal.

Off the pitch, focus has been on Hearts' long injury list, but the huge concern on the pitch inside Tynecastle was the continuing defensive fragility following their midweek Conference League defeat by Thun in Switzerland.

Falkirk sliced through the hosts to score the second. Captain Brad Spencer exploited the gaps and a pinpoint pass set up Owen Eames to finish neatly.

Claudio Braga believed he had dragged Hearts back into the game with some individual brilliance, but referee Matthew McDermid ruled the goal out for handball after viewing the incident again.

Premiership player of the month Murrell netted his sixth goal of the season with an expert header from a superb Deniss Melniks cross, then defender Liam Henderson stepped up with a finish any forward would be proud of.

Falkirk compounded Hearts' misery a minute after the restart, with Murrell left unmarked to make it a double.

There was a belated response from Wouter Vrancken's side as substitute Sabri Guendouz stroked in his first goal in maroon and the French forward was later awarded a penalty that Braga converted.

But it was scant consolation as Hearts lost a league match at Tynecastle for the first time since a 1-0 defeat by Dundee 18 months ago.

Analysis: Worries mounting for leaky Hearts

The worries continue for Hearts with five goals conceded at home. And while Vrancken was hopeful of some good news on the injury front in the coming week, he also lost defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott to add to the problems at the back.

Last season Hearts conceded 34 goals in total as they were pipped to the Premiership title on the final day. They have already shipped 22 in the opening 12 games this campaign - only bottom club Kilmarnock have conceded more.

It is another stinging result for the Tynecastle club and the international break may allow for a reset in helping players to recover amid what Vrancken described as a "cruel schedule".

Three big games await Hearts on their return in mid-November. A league trip to Dundee, before a Conference League visit from Monaco, and they'll then hope to be in a position to exorcise some demons of their recent 7-1 drubbing when Celtic come to Tynecastle.

Analysis: Falkirk flying after tricky start

Falkirk's revival has been startling. They were losing points to late goals and slipped to second bottom in a tricky start to the season.

Now they are up to the dizzy heights of third place, having won five top-flight games in a row for the first time in 31 years.

Manager McGlynn was fully aware his raft of new recruits would require time to gel and his side have followed up their win over Celtic with another notable upset.

Skipper Spencer has been partnered with Melniks in midfield, with the Latvian playing a key part at Tynecastle, commanding in his duels and producing a superb delivery to set up a fine Murrell header.

As well as their superb five-goal showing in one of the Premiership's trickiest venues, Falkirk also look strong defensively and have now only conceded 14 goals compared to 21 at this stage last season.

What they said

'A disgrace' - Vrancken slams Hearts' first-half performance

Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken: "I can't explain. It was just an embarrassment in the first half, simple as that, how easy it was for Falkirk to score their goals.

"It's crazy and we said at half-time, with the run of games, you have to have some pride in these moments.

"When the youngsters came in, it increased the level and you maybe expect the other players to have that personality and leadership to do this.

"So the second half was better, but the first half was a disgrace."

Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "It's 31 years since Jim Jefferies team went five wins in a row and we're delighted to equal that.

"Winning five games in a row, you've obviously got something about you. We want it to continue because we're enjoying this.

"But we're only 13 games in. There's a long way to go, so we've got to keep our feet on the ground and enjoy seeing our team third in the league when it comes on the TV."

McGlynn 'not getting carried away' despite Falkirk's rise to third

Player of the match

O. Eames
8.95
20 L. Kabashi
5.10
39 M. Gillies
4.40
19 S. Guendouz
4.30
10 Cláudio Braga
4.11
15 J. McPake
3.86
1 B. Reus
3.76
23 J. Altena
3.53
29 S. Kerjota
3.49
21 J. Wilson
3.25
9 J. Williams
2.80
11 P. Kaboré
2.69
64 M. Fagan-Walcott
2.63
5 J. McCart
2.56
17 S. Findlay
2.40
78 L. Mendy
2.19
31 Y. Dhanda
1.96
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