Hearts' discipline crucial in Prague

VALDAS Ivanauskas rightly praised the self-discipline of his Hearts side after their 3-1 win at Pittodrie on Sunday, at least, in the sense that, when under the cosh in the first half, they maintained their shape and composure. Given that Mauricio Pinilla was needlessly sent off in the closing stages of the match, however, there is still some fine-tuning to do on the discipline front.

The Chilean became the sixth Hearts player to see red so far this season, and, like some of his team-mates, could easily have avoided dismissal with a little bit more self-awareness. Never mind that his first yellow card, for some aspect of his goal celebration, seemed harsh: once in the referee's book, Pinilla should have refrained from stupid actions such as the one which saw him pick up a second caution.

Fortunately for Hearts, by the time the striker was sent off for delaying an Aberdeen free-kick the victory was in the bag, and they were able to close the game down. In other matches, however, their sendings-off have been costly. As they look ahead to Thursday night's UEFA Cup tie against Sparta Prague, they desperately need to avoid any such self-indulgence if they are to give themselves a real chance of overcoming the 2-0 deficit from the first leg.

It will be tough enough with 11 men on the field for Hearts to qualify from the first-round proper and go through to the group stages of European football's secondary competition. If they are reduced to ten men or fewer, as they were in the return leg of their Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens, it will surely become impossible.

Yet, while Sunday's SPL match produced a salutary reminder of the need to avoid dismissal, it also provided a more positive lesson, one which Ivanauskas also hinted at in his post-match summation. "The first half was big pressure for us," the coach said. "We stayed calm, waited for our chance, and needed to be very disciplined."

The calmness and patience which Ivanauskas praised will certainly be needed in the Czech capital, and the fact that Hearts did not score until the 64th minute against Aberdeen, yet still won by two clear goals will assist them in keeping their cool. The final score of 3-1 achieved at Pittodrie would, in fact, be enough to take Hearts through against Sparta on away goals, and that, too, will be a useful reminder to Hearts not to attempt too much too soon.

There are significant differences, of course, between a one-off SPL match and the second leg of a European tie. For a start, Hearts remained on equal terms even when under heavy Aberdeen pressure: against the Czechs, the concession of a third goal would be a far bigger blow than the loss of an opening goal to Jimmy Calderwood's side would have been. Secondly, while Aberdeen felt obliged as the home side to go on the offensive, Sparta will be happy to slow things down and doodle around in midfield.

Jimmy Calderwood, for one, believes Hearts have too much to do. "I don't think Hearts have any hope of turning round a two-goal deficit if they put in the same kind of performance over there that they did against us," the Aberdeen coach said, a touch uncharitably. "They have to win 3-0 to go through, but I think Sparta Prague will be quite happy to sit in and let Hearts play in front of them.

"If that happens then Hearts will have a big problem, unless they can improve from Sunday. I thought we absolutely dominated the game for 60 minutes, and we played at a great pace, which let us create chances while hardly giving anything away.

"They got confidence from the opening goal, though and after we were forced to push forward, they were able to exploit the space we left at the back. But I think Hearts will be in for a very different type of game on Thursday."

Calderwood is surely right in that respect. But, having won their last three matches, Hearts are now in a far better frame of mind than they were a fortnight ago. They still face an uphill battle, but the style with which they finished off Aberdeen will surely help with the climb.

Taken from the Scotsman