Hearts 4 Dundee Utd 0

By Gavin McCafferty, PA Sport

Hearts put their disappointing UEFA Cup exit behind them with a 4-0 rout of Dundee United in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Andrius Velicka saw his 30th-minute effort deflect off the leg of United defender Alan Archibald to open the scoring for the Jambos.

Then, nine minutes later, Finnish forward Juho Makela added a second as the Edinburgh club bounced back from the aggregate defeat by Sparta Prague.

Hearts were comfortable in the second period and Paul Hartley and Jamie Mole rounded off the triumph in the closing stages.

Tynecastle head coach Valdas Ivanauskas made six changes to the starting line-up, with Ibrahim Tall, Takis Fyssas, Bruno Aguiar, Mirsad Beslija, Makela and Velicka all starting the game.

Robbie Neilson, Lee Wallace, Deividas Cesnauskis and Jamie Mole dropped to the bench, while Mauricio Pinilla was suspended and Julien Brellier missed out altogether.

United gave as good as they as got in the opening stages and Craig Gordon pulled off a superb stop from United's lone striker Noel Hunt in the ninth minute.

Greg Cameron headed the ball into the box after a long free-kick was cleared and the unmarked Hunt volleyed against Gordon's body before two subsequent efforts were blocked by the home defence.

At the other end Steven Pressley got a header on target after a corner but Derek Stillie comfortably gathered.

Hearts' passing improved for a spell but Hartley had words with Velicka when the Lithuanian appeared to give up on the Scotland midfielder's overhit pass.

Pressley escaped a yellow card for a body-check on Hunt and Barry Robson could not punish the hosts either as his 25-yard free-kick sailed over.

United came closer midway through the half when Stuart Duff headed against the bar after Conway's cross found him in space at the back post after a short corner.

Robson then ran at the Hearts defence and his 20-yard shot whistled just past the far post.

Cesnauskis struck the bar from 25 yards moments after coming off the Hearts bench.

Robson again tried his luck from long-range and was only a yard wide before Duff also had a long-range effort miss the target.

Hartley's ambitious chip was two yards over as the game died down slightly.

Collin Samuel came off the bench to support Hunt but United were restricted to shooting from distance.

Samuel won a free-kick on the edge of the box which Robson curled inches over and found space in the box moments later but his driven cross evaded his team-mates.

Beslija was brought down in the box by Christian Kalvenes and Hartley slotted home the penalty with two minutes to go.

Within a minute, Roman Bednar set up fellow substitute Mole with a simple fourth goal.

Teams:

Hearts Gordon, Tall, Pressley, Berra, Fyssas, Beslija,Hartley, Aguiar, Mikoliunas (Cesnauskis 56), Velicka (Mole 84),Makela (Bednar 61).

Subs Not Used: Banks, Neilson, Wallace, Zaliukas.

Goals: Archibald 30 og, Makela 39, Hartley 89 pen, Mole 89.

Dundee Utd Stillie, Proctor, McCracken, Archibald, Kalvenes,Conway (Samuel 61), Kerr, Cameron, Robson, Hunt, Duff.

Subs Not Used: McLean, Mair, Brewster, Kenneth, Easton, Smith.

Booked: Kerr.

Att: 16,849

Ref: E Smith (Scotland)

Taken from sportinglife.com