Ruthless Hearts focus on domestic challenge

Hearts 4 - 0 Dundee Utd

SO THAT'S the crisis officially over, then. Hearts have now played five games since the low point that was the 2-0 home defeat by Sparta Prague, and in those games they have scored 12 goals and conceded one. The most important fixture of the quartet was the goalless return leg in the Czech Republic that saw them go out of the UEFA Cup, and that was clearly a major disappointment. If there was any reaction here to elimination from Europe, though, it was a wholly positive one.

Valdas Ivanauskas made six changes from the team which drew with Sparta, including a new strikeforce of Juho Makela and Andrius Velicka. The coach had an anxious wait as his side took a while to match the tempo established by their opponents, but in the end the three points were among the more comfortable Hearts will pick up this season. Even before the late strikes from Paul Hartley and Jamie Mole, the contest was over.

And this was not a case of winning ugly, as some previous victories have been. Instead, Hearts varied the play cleverly, producing some delightful football late on as they sought a goal to enhance their 2-0 half-time advantage.

United began more brightly, and had the first real scoring chance of the match when a free kick found its way to Noel Hunt at the far post. Taking the ball at an awkward height, Hunt ensured his shot was on target, but could not get enough power behind it, and Craig Gordon blocked with relative ease.

Hearts increased the pace of their game after that let-off, and Mirsad Beslija, one of those half-dozen changes from Thursday night in Prague, showed some impressive touches down the right.

But United were in no mood to be pinned back in their own half: while Hearts struggled to produce a decent final ball into the box, the visitors created chances almost at will. The best fell to Stuart Duff, who was allowed a free header when a Craig Conway cross found him at the back post, only to somehow contrive to send it back across goal and off the crossbar at the far side. United then had the ball in the net when Hunt tapped in the rebound after Gordon had saved from Duff, but the Irishman was ruled offside.

At that point, with almost half an hour played, there seemed a fair chance that Craig Brewster's side would go in at the break either ahead or at worst still on level terms. Instead, they found themselves two goals down as both members of the Hearts strikeforce scored from the first quality balls to come their way.

The opening goal was made by Saulius Mikoliunas, who had been toiling to make an impact out wide. When he broke free from a more central position, though, the winger had the time to measure a pass into the path of his countryman Marius Velicka, whose first-time shot took a slight deflection off Alan Archibald on its way over the advancing Derek Stillie and into the net.

The second goal, almost ten minutes later, also arose from a winger-striker combination, but this time from wide on the right. There looked to be little danger when Beslija received the ball tight to the touchline, but the Bosnian swiftly made space for himself and then sent over a 40-yard cross of astonishing precision for Juho Makela to score from a few yards out.

From a defensive point of view it may be argued that the cross should have been cut out long before it landed at the feet of the Finn, but it was a highly impressive effort nonetheless, and put an entirely different complexion on the game. Having acquired a cushion, Hearts were able to begin the second half in a more considered manner, forcing United to chase the game.

A booking for Christophe Berra for a block on Hunt just outside the box was an indication that the visitors were still causing problems for the Hearts defence.

After an hour, though, the contest should have been over when Deividas Cesnauskis, newly on for Mikoliunas, curled a shot off the bar from the edge of the box.

The pace of Collin Samuel, a replacement for Craig Conway, gave Takis Fyssas something to think about, but the longer the half wore on the less we saw of United as a creative force.

Barry Robson did most to maintain a glimmer of hope for Craig Brewster's side, and they came close to pulling a goal back when he sent a free-kick just too high. With ten minutes remaining a low ball from Samuel across the goal after he had beaten Steven Pressley for pace required the slightest touch to go in, but it evaded everyone. That was it for United, and in what was left of the match Hearts scored twice more to emphasise their superiority.

The first came from a penalty, and arose from a run into the box by Fyssas. The Greek's shot was blocked and fell to Alan Archibald, who should have cleared but could only touch it to Beslija. The winger tried to skip past Archibald, but was brought down. Hartley converted from the spot to open his account for the season.

With United still reeling, Mole made it four from a cutback by his fellow-substitute Roman Bednar following a rapid break. Defeat by such a margin may have seemed cruel, and certainly the match was a two-way street rather than the one-way traffic which the scoreline may suggest, but the critical difference was that Hearts knew how to reach their destination.