Winners in any language

MOTHERWELL 0

TWO early goals from Edgaras Jankauskas set up an ultimately comfortable victory for Hearts at Tynecastle yesterday. The polyglot multi-national men in maroon may need an interpreter to get Graham Rix's instructions clear, but they are fluent in the language of football. In the final analysis it was their greater skill quotient which gave Hearts victory over the always industrious Steelmen. Motherwell simply had no answer to the control and touches of Jankauskas, Rudi Skacel, Deividas Cesnauskis, and Bruno Aguiar to name but four of the more superior players on show.

Hearts may have lost a director in midweek, Liutauras Varanavicius finally realising that running the Lithuanian FA - our opponents in Euro 2008 - and sitting in a Scottish boardroom might just possibly be a conflict of interest, but the Tynecastle side were never in danger of losing this match after an opening blitz that saw them go two up after 13 minutes.

The opening goal in three minutes came after an amazing passage of play. In their first serious attack, Motherwell looked set to score when a Richie Foran cross from the left wing found Scott McDonald standing all alone on the six-yard line. With Craig Gordon stranded on his line, the Australian's downward header looked goalbound only for the ball to rebound off the base of the upright.

Hearts took full advantage of their narrow escape, the ball being swiftly transferred in a matter of seconds to the other end where Aguiar put Skacel clear on the left. His fierce cross cum shot was deflected away by goalkeeper Colin Meldrum, but only into the path of the inrushing Jankauskas who slammed his half-volley high into the roof of the net.

Motherwell were in disarray as Hearts poured forward, most of the inspiration coming from Skacel and the tricky Cesnauskis. But it was a clever ball from captain Steven Pressley which almost brought the second goal in nine minutes, his long flat pass starting the move which ended with Skacel cutting in off the right wing and firing in a rasping shot which Meldrum saved quite superbly, the goalkeeper flinging himself to his right to palm the ball away.

But the next goal was not long in coming, and if the first was pretty good the second was something special. In the 13th minute, Jankauskas started a flowing move, curling a pass from left midfield to send Cesnauskis away down the right wing. His low cross was turned out by the Motherwell defence, but unfortunately for them Jankauskas had kept running at full tilt and without breaking stride, the big striker unleashed a tremendous drive from the edge of the penalty box into the postage stamp high to the left of the despairing Meldrum.

An excellent strike, and the Tynecastle faithful sat back and expected more. They nearly got the hat-trick they had been waiting for after 20 minutes when Jankauskas rounded Meldrum and shot home, but the referee had blown for offside even before the striker received the ball.

Motherwell's defence had tightened up, but still had problems with their clearances. Luckily for them Aguiar could not match Jankauskas when he pounced on a loose ball in 28 minutes, his shot sizzling over Meldrum's bar.

More solidity at the back encouraged the visitors to go forward, and while Pressley and the impressive Andy Webster mopped up most dangers, after 32 minutes Motherwell came close to scoring, Brian Kerr's cross being turned on to the roof of the net by Jim Hamilton. Motherwell's play had also become overly robust as they tried to get back into the game. Referee Charlie Richmond eventually lost patience and yellow carded Hamilton and Kerr just after the half-hour mark, Cesnauskis following them into the book when he appeared to elbow Foran while both ran for the ball.

Hearts seemed content to soak up some pressure before half time, and Gordon was coolness personified when he simply extended his arms to clutch a powerful Hamilton shot. The second half had no rhythm to it, both sides having their moments of pressure without sustaining them, and with Hearts' defence entirely in control, Motherwell were continually frustrated as they failed to penetrate in the final third of the field.

A rash of substitutions and bookings - Foran for a foul on Cesnauskis and Elliot for interfering with a free kick - also broke up the flow of play. Motherwell almost grabbed a goal which would have worried Hearts, Craigan's 70th minute header rebounding off the post into Gordon's hands.

In 77 minutes, however, the result was put beyond all doubt with a sweet move by Hearts which encapsulated the best of their play. Takis Fyssas sent in an accurate cross from the left and Skacel's touch forward to Calum Elliot was exquisite. The Scottish striker still had a lot to do, but he outstripped the defence and cleverly lofted the ball over Meldrum for a fine, clinching goal.

Hearts were quite happy to coast it from then on, though Gordon had to look lively to save a wayward cross from Stevie Hammell, while substitute Stephen McGarry's late shot was not far away.

It was all huff and puff to no avail from Motherwell, however, while the better and more skilful side had already clinched the three points that maintains their lingering challenge to Celtic.

Taken from the Scotsman