Points shared in close-run Easter Road encounter

HEARTS came from behind to earn a share of the spoils in the first Edinburgh derby of the season.
The Tynecastle side had fallen behind to a goal from Steven Fletcher after just 78 seconds but pulled themselves level before the break with a goal from Bruno Aguiar.

It was Portuguese midfielder's first goal in over two years after a lengthy period on the sidelines with injury and proved to be a vital one as neither side could add to their tally in an entertaining match at Easter Road.

Mixu Paatelainen's side got off to the best possible start when they took the lead with just over a minute of the match gone. It was Derek Riordan's first Edinburgh derby in over two years but it didn't take him long to make an impression, back-heeling the ball for Colin nish and when he fired it across goal on the angle, Fletcher was there to stab it into the net from just inside the six-yard box.

The Jambos' best chance came when Laryea Kingston picked up possession on the left of the box and floated the ball into the edge of the six-yard area.

Skipper Christophe Berra rose to meet it and his header had Hibs keeper ma-Kalambay but it came bouncing back off the top of the bar.

Marian Kello almost landed his side init five minutes later when a poor clearance landed right at the feet of Riordan but the former Cleitc striker stumbled over the ball. When he regained his composure, he had the feet taken from him by Eggert Jonsson but referee Eddie Smith waved play on.

Hearts levelled the scoring just before the break when they won a free-kick after Colin Nish brought Lee Wallace down. Aguiar and Andrew Driver hovered over it and the Portuguese midfielder curled it low into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Csaba Laszlo changed keepers at the break, handing Janos Balogh his debut when he was forced to withdraw Marian Kello, who suffered concussion.

It could all have gone wrong for the visitorsd in the dying minutes when Marius Zaliukas failed to see Riordan behind him and attempted a passback to Balogh, which was short in any case. The frontman tried to cash in but the keeper did well to rescue the situation, making a brave block at his feet.

Taken from the Scotsman