Hearts 2 Dundee 2

By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

Craig Levein's Hearts came back from two goals down to earn a draw with Dundee at Tynecastle to stay third in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Nacho Novo and Gavin Rae had seemingly put Jim Duffy's men on the way to the points, but Graham Weir and Steven Pressley pounced with late goals to deny them.

Rae fired a timely reminder to watching Scotland coach Berti Vogts ahead of the vital Euro 2004 qualifier against Lithuania at Hampden Park next week with national captain Paul Lambert ruled out through injury.

The match programme's bold claim that there were no more attractive opponents that Dundee was perhaps exaggerating a little, but the two sides did not disappoint.

Phil Stamp fired over the crossbar from the edge of the box after just 30 seconds before Dundee threatened themselves.

Space opened up for Gary Brady to try his luck from the edge of the box, but Neil MacFarlane deflected his effort wide.

But Hearts should have gone ahead in the 12th minute when Patrick Kisnorbo picked out Dennis Wyness in the box, but he fired just over from nine yards.

The home side paid the price for that miss just four minutes later when Dundee hit them on the break.

Brady took a quick throw in which caught the Hearts defence off-guard and Novo's low shot got through the hands of Tepi Moilanen.

Hearts could have equalised moments later when Kisnorbo played the ball into the box, but Mark de Vries took a wild swing and completely missed.

Hearts continued to put pressure on the Dundee defence and Stamp headed Paul Hartley's cross wide in the 21st minute.

But Dundee looked dangerous on the break and they threatened again in the 28th minute when de Vries brought down Wilkie just outside the box.

Georgi Nemsadze curled the ball into the danger area and picked out Fabian Caballero, but the Argentinian headed wide of the mark.

The home side had claims for a penalty denied in the 31st minute when Stamp was sent tumbling in the area by Novo's challenge. Stamp was booked two minutes later after a terrible tackle on Tom Cowan.

Wyness headed just over the crossbar from a Paul Hartley free-kick in the 36th minute before Scott Severin was stretching as his tame right-foot effort was saved at the second attempt by Julian Speroni from 20 yards.

De Vries had a better chance to level in the 41st minute when he got a free header from Alan Maybury's cross, but his effort sailed over from just inside the box.

Hearts continued to probe after the interval, but De Vries' appeal for a penalty after clashing with Lee Mair in the area was dismissed.

Levein decided to make a change in the 51st minute when he sent Jean-Louis Valois on for Hartley.

Valois injected more urgency into Hearts and he tested Speroni with a powerful long-range effort in the 56th minute which the Italian comfortably saved before Graham Weir replaced Wyness.

Dundee, however, hit them again with a counter-attack after Steven Pressley completely missed the ball near the half-way line after good work from Caballero.

Rae reacted quickly and burst clean through before poking the ball past Moilanen and in off the post.

Hearts refused to lie down and MacFarlane and Kisnorbo both went close before Levein made his final substitute with Stephen Simmons replacing MacFarlane.

Wilkie was booked for an untidy challenge before Weir gave the home side hope by pouncing in the box to push the ball past Speroni.

Hearts had their tails up and their fans were celebrating again in the 81st minute when Pressley made amends for his earlier mistake by heading home Valois' corner.

That set up a frantic finale which could have seen Hearts complete the comeback with a last-gasp winner, but de Vries failed to control Stamp's pass and Valois fired wide.

Wilkie could also have given Dundee a winner but he headed Nemsadze's free-kick just wide.

Teams

Hearts Moilanen, Maybury, Pressley, Webster, Kisnorbo, Stamp, Severin, MacFarlane (Simmons 69), Hartley (Valois 51), de Vries, Wyness (Weir 61).

Subs Not Used: Gordon, McKenna.

Booked: Stamp, Severin, Hartley, Pressley.

Goals: Weir 73, Pressley 81.

Dundee Speroni, Mackay, Wilkie, Mair, Brady (Hutchinson 80), Nemsadze, Rae, Smith, Cowan (Hernandez Santos 70), Caballero, Novo.

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Sara, Linn.

Booked: Cowan, Wilkie, Smith.

Goals: Novo 16, Rae 64.

Att: 11,348

Ref: J Underhill (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com