Hearts favour substance over stylish Dons

IT WAS a dismal afternoon in Aberdeen, but a bright match to which both sides contributed massively went some way to lifting the gloom.

The home team were rightly disappointed to have emerged from the game with nothing after playing some exquisite passing football in the first half and competing well throughout, but in the end they were undone by opponents who had a superior goalkeeper and goal-scorers.

Hearts for their part maintained second place in the SPL with what was in the end an impressive victory, and gained ground on all their rivals bar Celtic thanks to Saturday's results. They were under heavy pressure for much of the opening 45 minutes and had Craig Gordon to thank for keeping them on equal terms at the break.

Straight from the restart, though, they displayed more confidence, and once they went ahead played with the verve and self-belief which has been conspicuously missing for much of the season so far.

Valdas Ivanauskas had promised to pick his strongest available team for the match, and Neil McCann, Christophe Berra and Roman Bednar were thus the only Hearts players who had also started in the midweek CIS Cup win over Alloa. The coach would have to travel some distance before finding someone who agreed that Julien Brellier should not be in his best starting 11, and the lack of the Frenchman's reassuringly solid presence just in front of the defence was one reason Hearts looked shaky at first.

Once Berra had given them the lead, though, they went from strength to strength. Mauricio Pinilla, eventually sent off for two bookings, displayed some delightful touches, scoring the second himself and laying on the third for Saulius Mikoliunas.

Aberdeen did get a goal back with time running out, but that was hardly a consolation in a match to which they had contributed so much.

Unchanged from their previous league win at Falkirk, the home team had two scoring chances in the first minute, first when Craig Gordon saved at the feet of Barry Nicholson, and then when Gary Dempsey was just off target with a shot from 25 yards.

The home side maintained that early advantage, and Gordon was soon called into action again, this time blocking a volley from Nicholson. After ten minutes a shot from Darren Mackie clipped the crossbar on its way out, as the striker and Nicholson continued to carve out chances down the right with some crisp passing.

With quarter of an hour played, a free-kick by Paul Hartley, delivered straight into the arms of Jamie Langfield, was Hearts' first attempt on target.

The rest of the half followed the same pattern: high-tempo pressing by Aberdeen punctuated by the odd break-out from the visitors, evident in the bookings of Steven Pressley, for a trip on Chris Clark, and Neil McCann, for sliding in on Lee Miller.

As the interval approached, the latter was just wide with a shot from 35 yards, and then Richard Foster brought a fine save out of Gordon with a fierce effort. When Stuart Dougal blew for the break, however, Aberdeen had nothing to show for all the effort they had expended, while Hearts, who had been second to most balls in midfield, might well have felt they had weathered the storm.

Indeed, the Edinburgh team were notably sharper straight from the restart, and it required an expertly timed intervention by Russell Anderson to deny Pinilla an excellent scoring chance just as it looked as if the Chilean striker was through on Langfield. Scott Severin was then booked for persistent fouling, as the contest became ever more frenetic.

Aberdeen were still causing problems for Hearts, but from dominating the first half they were much more on the back foot. A near-post header by Pinilla from a McCann cross and a run in on goal in which Foster just got to the ball ahead of Hartley were evidence of Hearts' improvement, and when the goal came for the visitors it was very much with the run of play.

It was a simple move, in direct contrast to the multi-pass movements with which Aberdeen had tried to unpick their opponents. From just outside the centre circle, Hartley drifted a free-kick to the back post, and from three or four yards out Christophe Berra headed in.

Marius Zaliukas and Chris Clark were booked in separate incidents as the match lost none of its competitiveness, and Aberdeen understandably persisted with their style of play, while also making a change to personnel, with Dyron Daal, a goalscorer eight days earlier, coming on for Andrew Considine.

Daal would get on the scoresheet again, but it was Hearts' substitute Deividas Cesnauskis, on at the same time, who made the quicker impact. The winger won possession in midfield, flicking the ball over Severin to Mikoliunas. Advancing into the box, Mikoliunas crossed low for Bednar, who rolled it back with the sole of his feet to Pinilla. The Chilean took it first time, leaving Langfield no chance.

Pinilla was booked for the manner of his celebrations, but minutes later made another positive contribution, putting Mikoliunas through on goal. The Lithuanian, playing his best game for some time, finished confidently with a low shot.

Daal got a goal back a minute later, running on to a flick from Dempsey and shooting past Gordon, but it was too little too late. Even after Pinilla was sent off for a second bookable offence - throwing the ball away when Aberdeen were awarded a free-kick - Aberdeen were unable to do anything of note in the six or seven minutes which remained as Hearts ran the clock down well to secure a valuable victory.
MAN OF THE MATCH

Mauricio Pinilla (Hearts)

In the second half, the striker played the biggest part in determining the outcome. After scoring the second goal, he then made the third with a perfect through ball for Saulius Mikoliunas. He blotted his copybook with his red card, but his talent was evident at both goals.

Taken from the Scotsman