United march on with a tactically superior show

By PAUL SINCLAIR

26 Feb 1997

Dundee United ............ 1 Hearts ............ 0

THE plans of mice and men may have a habit of going astray, but Tommy McLean's are being followed to the letter at the moment.

Another intelligent, tactical performance by the Dundee United manager's team always had Hearts on the back foot in their Scottish Cup replay at Tannadice last night and they deservedly claimed a place in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory.

From the moment they took an early lead, United always had Hearts chasing the game and ultimately the visitors did not have the guile to unstitch McLean's plans.

United's style of play insists that the opposition chase the game while they sit back and absorb the pressure.

They had the perfect start in this match which allowed them to follow their plan to the letter.

After only three minutes, Lars Zetterlund hit a right-foot shot that came off the underside of the Hearts' bar and was cleared by McPherson for a corner.

As happened throughout the first half, the Hearts defence did not clear the cross ball properly from McKinnon's corner and, when Malpas headed the ball back diagonally across goal, Robbie Winters was unmarked at the near post and headed United into the lead.

Hearts had to chase the game and that suited United.

Apart from some challenging runs from Neil McCann, there was little in the Hearts attack that looked like getting them back on level terms.

McPherson had a header from a McCann corner saved low by Dykstra in 10 minutes and only two minutes later a perfectly delivered cross from Gary Locke on the right evaded the United defence but unfortunately also evaded any of his team-mates.

United were content to seduce Hearts further and further forward, but, confident that their defence could absorb anything that the visitors could create, they always looked capable of extending their lead on the break.

Hearts were reduced to high but not particularly dangerous balls launched forward at the United defence in the hope that either McCann or Cameron could latch on to the scraps that fell their way.

It was the latter who had the best of Hearts' chances in the first half.

In 27 minutes, Cameron forced his way through the United defence and, while he did well to retain possession, he allowed himself to be forced wide and his final effort did little to test Dykstra.

Two minutes before half-time, Cameron had Hearts' clearest chance of the first period.

An individual run led to him playing a one-two with Hamilton, but once again when through on the goalkeeper he allowed himself to be pushed wide and his shot was parried by Dykstra.

There were moments in the first 45 minutes when tempers became a little frayed.

Olofsson was booked for a foul on Locke and then in 35 minutes, Salvatori got his just reward for perpetuating a feud with Dolan when his name was taken.

The Italian's petulant reaction to the referee made him a prime candidate for further action later in the match.

Prudently, Hearts manager Jim Jefferies kept Salvatori in at half-time, replacing him with the more substantial figure of Gary McKay, who added enthusiasm to a Hearts midfield that, up until then, was most noted for anonymity.

Jefferies is often an evangelist for the Tynecastle cause and his players started the second half with the zeal of the true believer.

Inevitably this meant more gaps at the back for United to exploit, but an outbreak of over-fussiness stopped them scoring.

Indeed, the match entered a period when the players seemed more intent on leaving a mark on each other rather than the game.

McKinnon was booked for a spectacular foul on Locke and Hamilton had his name taken when he caught the heel of Hearts' target-in-chief Jamie Dolan.

Cameron was also booked for dissent.

The match was full of sound and fury now, but bereft of any genuine opportunities or indeed, vision.

Hearts had remembered the fighting spirit bit of their cup tradition but had forgotten the imagination part.

Not even the rousing sight of John Robertson coming on from the bench could shake his team-mates into meaningful action.

He himself did see a 20-yard shot scrape over the bar in 72 minutes but nobody else on the Hearts side seemed to take the hint.

Indeed, Pressley - who had another immense game for United - could have stretched his side's lead with 13 minutes to go.

He ran late from the edge of the box on to a McKinnon corner and should have done better than placing his free header just wide of the goal.

Hearts continued to press and Dave McPherson was unlucky to see his header from a McKay cross well held by Dykstra just before the final whistle, but really Hearts always looked like receiving the cup exit they did with a performance that never really troubled United.

Dundee United - Dykstra, McKinnon, Malpas, Pressley, Perry, Pedersen, Olofsson, Zetterlund, Winters, Dolan, McLaren.

Substitutes - McSwegan, McInally, Sinclair.

Hearts - Rousset, Locke, Naysmith, Weir, McPherson, Ritchie, Salvatori, Fulton, Hamilton,Cameron, McCann.

Substitutes - Robertson, McKay, Murray Referee - H Dallas (Motherwell).

Taken from the Herald