HARTLEY FAILS TO GET PAL PINILLA OUT OF TROUBLE

PAUL HARTLEY admitted last night that he tried to get booked - to save his Hearts team-mate Mauricio Pinilla from seeing red at Pittodrie.

The Chilean striker, who had been cautioned for his over-the-top celebrations at scoring the Jambos' second goal in their 3-1 win, was sent packing in the 84th minute by referee Stuart Dougal for kicking the ball away.

Hartley said: "The lad was on a yellow card and I could see the linesman flagging so I went to the ref and told him I'd kicked the ball away but he was having none of it.

"But his first booking was harsh. When you score a goal, you celebrate - that's what football is all about. There was no provocative gesture."

Hartley insisted this win has boosted confidence ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup return against Sparta Prague.

He said: "Not many teams will go to Pittodrie and score three goals so this was a great win.

"We have to take the game to Sparta in Prague. It will be hard but if we score first, who knows what will happen.

"There is certainly a belief in the squad that we can get a result."

Hearts' gaffer Valdas Ivanauskas will discipline Pinilla who was brought in on loan from Sporting Lisbon.

But he claimed there should be greater tolerance shown to foreign players in this country.

He said: "I'm angry at Mauricio's second yellow card and he knows the penalty.

"The referee did well but we have a lot of foreign players who celebrate in their own way.

"The player doesn't understand why he got the first yellow card. He's from Chile and players from another country celebrate a goal in their own way.

"It was his first away game and the atmosphere was much different from Tynecastle.

"But he's a special player who will be good for the game in Scotland.

"The first half was a bit depressing for us as I expected more from my team but we had Craig Gordon who made two or three good saves.

"We had to stay very disciplined and wait for our chances but I was very happy with our second-half performance.

"Aberdeen are strong at home but we deserved to win. I said before that it's not just Rangers, Celtic and Hearts who are involved in the championship.

"The league is very close and Aberdeen are up there too, so this was a six-pointer."

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood couldn't believe his side had lost 3-1 after controlling most of the match.

He said: "That's the best we have played this season. The first goal was always going to be vital and if we'd gone ahead, we would have gone on to win.

"But we didn't and Hearts got a huge lift. But I don't believe there were two goals of a difference between the sides.

"Craig Gordon had three great saves in the first half to deny us but that's why he's Scotland's no.1."

"Then, when we went behind, we threw men forward and got caught with two sucker punches."

Taken from the Daily Record