Aberdeen 1 Hearts 3

Hearts again moved three points behind leaders Celtic in the Bank of Scotland Premier League courtesy of three second-half goals against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Christophe Berra, Mauricio Pinilla and Saulius Mikoliunas all struck for the Tynecastle club in an 18-minute spell, before substitute Dyron Daal scored a consolation for the Dons eight minutes from time.

A minute after the Dutchman's goal, Pinilla was then sent off after his second caution of the match, but Hearts maintained their two-goal advantage and received a confidence boost ahead of their trip to Sparta Prague in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

In a week where Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov released a statement revealing his involvement in training methods and player recruitment, the Tynecastle club made eight changes to the side that defeated Alloa 4-0 in the CIS Insurance Cup on Wednesday.

Perhaps all those changes were the reason why the visitors made such a slow start to the game, as Aberdeen dominated the early exchanges.

Hearts' goalkeeper Craig Gordon was forced into making a block from Barry Nicholson as early as the first minute and when Chris Clark won a corner for the Dons, Nicholson's delivery was fired just wide by Gary Dempsey following a clearing header by Berra.

Gordon then had to make a strong save at his near post to halt a searing Nicholson volley after Lee Wallace failed to cut out Dempsey's clipped pass, before Darren Mackie saw a cross-come-shot hit the top of Hearts' crossbar on its way over.

Lee Miller was unfortunate to see a 21st-minute drive skim just wide, while Hearts finally seriously tested Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield thanks to a Wallace shot from 30 yards that had to be tipped round the post.

Six minutes before the break, Nicholson sent a header from Mackie's cross just over, before Neil McCann and Mikoliunas both drew good stops from Langfield with long-range shots.

However, the away side had to rely on their Scottish goalkeeper to keep the score level at the interval when Richard Foster forced Gordon into a full-length dive to parry his powerful strike.

Aberdeen continued where they had left off in the second half and Miller directed a header from Clark's centre over the crossbar.

But Hearts soon started to direct the play and Pinilla sent a 55th-minute header wide, while Hartley appealed for a penalty three minutes later when he believed he was fouled just inside the Aberdeen area by Foster.

Roman Bednar then wasted a great opportunity to open the scoring when he could only shoot straight at Langfield and when the rebound fell to Pinilla, Scott Severin was on hand to make a strong block.

However, Hearts continued to look threatening and in the 64th minute they took the lead when Hartley's free-kick was turned into the net by Berra at the back post.

Following a back-heeled pass from Bednar, Pinilla then doubled the advantage 12 minutes later and when substitute Julien Brellier sent Mikoliunas through on goal in the 81st minute, the Lithuanian scored Hearts' third from the edge of the area.

With time running out, Aberdeen sub Daal pulled a goal back courtesy of a close-range finish from Mackie's flick, before Pinilla took the gloss off Hearts' victory when he was dismissed following yellow cards for an over-exuberant goal celebration and kicking the ball away at a Dons' free-kick.

Teams:

Aberdeen Langfield, Hart, Severin, Anderson,Considine (Daal 74), Nicholson, Dempsey, Clark,Foster (Byrne 82), Miller, Mackie.

Subs Not Used: Soutar, Diamond, Daniel Smith, Macauley, Maguire.

Booked: Severin, Mackie.

Goals: Daal 82.

Hearts Gordon, Tall, Pressley, Berra, Wallace, Mikoliunas,Zaliukas (Brellier 79), Hartley, McCann (Cesnauskis 74),Bednar (Makela 88), Pinilla.

Subs Not Used: Banks, Neilson, Aguiar, Mole.

Sent Off: Pinilla (84).

Booked: Pressley, McCann, Zaliukas, Pinilla.

Goals: Berra 64, Pinilla 76, Mikoliunas 81.

Att: 11,160

Ref: S Dougal (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com