Dundee 1 Hearts 2

Dundee slipped to their second home defeat in a row after Hearts adapted better to the shocking conditions at Dens Park.

The playing surface was ripped up during the Boxing Day clash with Aberdeen and more rain in the days since have left it in a terrible state.

The Jambos took the lead through Andy Kirk when the Northern Ireland international pounced on some hesitant defending from Dundee after they failed to clear a Steven Boyack long ball.

Dundee equalised through young striker Steven Milne in the 57th minute, but Hearts substitute Graeme Weir popped up with 10 minutes remaining to grab all three points for Craig Levein's men.

Fabian Caballero created the first real chance of the game when he fooled the Hearts defence into thinking that he was looking to pick out a pass, but instead burst through on goal himself.

He gathered the ball 25 yards from goal, strode forward and feigned to play the ball to Milne, who was standing in an offside position.

Caballero then sprinted past the static Hearts defence and fired in a shot on the angle. Unfortunately for Dundee, his effort spun wide of the post.

Hearts forced Julian Speroni into his first save of the match after 21 minutes when a long ball cut out the home defence and allowed Kirk to race through on the Dundee goalkeeper.

His attempt to place the ball to the left of the Argentinian was blocked and the ball broke free for Mark de Vries.

The tall Dutchman looked to have the beating of Lee Mair, but the youngster stuck out a leg and managed to clear.

The tactic of playing balls deep in behind the Dundee defence almost worked three minutes later when Alan Maybury's long pass found Kirk.

The Ulsterman raced through one-on-one with Speroni, for the second time in the opening 45 minutes, but the goalkeeper was equal to his effort once again and palmed the ball away.

Hearts opened the scoring with three minutes remaining of the half. Boyack, a former Dundee player, played a hopeful ball into the area from the right wing.

Dundee's defence should have cleared the ball easily, but Mair and Zurab Khizanishvili hesitated and allowed Kirk to sneak in and knock the ball home from inside the six-yard area.

Dundee got back on level terms 12 minutes into the second half when Milne, who made his first start since October, nodded the ball past Roddy McKenzie.

Dave Mackay broke down the right flank and delivered a teasing cross to the back post and Milne positioned himself on the angle of the six-yard box and took advantage of some slack defensive play by the visitors to steer a looping header over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Conditions became steadily worse as the toll of playing two games in three days began to show. Large pools of mud appeared on the surface, making it difficult to play passes of any distance on the ground.

This prevented the teams, and Dundee especially, from playing attractive football.

The visitors took the lead with 10 minutes of the match remaining and it was a dream start for Weir. The youngster had only been on the field a matter of minutes when he hammered Boyack's corner home.

Dundee appeared to concentrate too much on the threat of de Vries and neglected to pick up Weir. When the corner broke to him via Scott Severin, he was on hand to send a powerful effort past Speroni and into the net.

Stephen Simmons, a late substitute for Boyack, had two efforts cleared in the final minutes.

The first, a shot from 18 yards, was blocked by Speroni and turned away for a corner kick.

From the dead ball, he rose above the Dundee defence and powered a header goalwards. Milne was on the goalline and was able to clear.

Teams

Dundee Speroni, Smith, Mackay, Caballero, Rae, Khizanishvili, Milne, Novo, Mair, Lovell (Robb 62), Brady (Robertson 45).

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Beith, Jablonski.

Booked: Caballero.

Goals: Milne 57.

Hearts McKenzie, Maybury, Mahe, Pressley, McKenna, Severin, de Vries, Kirk (Weir 75), Valois, Boyack (Simmons 83), MacFarlane.

Subs Not Used: Gordon, Webster, McCann.

Booked: Mahe, Pressley, Simmons.

Goals: Kirk 42, Weir 80.

Att: 7,340

Ref: K Clark (Scotland).


Taken from sportinglife.com