Merciless Hearts hit top gear

Hearts 4
Dundee Utd 0

SUSPICIONS have persisted all season that Hearts still had to attain top gear despite October being upon us. Yesterday, those notions were dispelled on the first day of the month with Dundee United the victims in a ruthless assassination.

Equally, doubts regarding the capabilities of £1.3million pair Juho Makela and Mirsad Beslija have lingered in and around Edinburgh since the pair arrived in the capital back in January. Again, those uncertainties were destroyed in this match.

Getting over the frustrations of Prague was expected to be a hazardous task for the home side, as is often the case for a team returning to domestic duty following a midweek European engagement. Dundee United were clearly keen to upset their hosts during the opening period and maintain a grievance over a disallowed Noel Hunt effort, but once in their stride Hearts were relentless in their pursuit of the opposition.

Beslija delivered his finest performance in Scotland to date and completed his first 90 minutes in the league. Most notable was his wondrous cross from the right on to Makela's toe for the Finn to convert Hearts' second goal. Makela himself was slightly less prominent in the overall context of the match but led the line willingly with Roman Bednar again restricted to the substitute's bench. Crucially, the rarely-used striker also fulfilled his primary objective by getting his name on the scoresheet.

Many of Valdas Ivanauskas' squad will now defect for international assignments, although the break from the SPL is perhaps slightly unwelcome at Tynecastle with the team having scored 12 times in their last five outings. "We're going well just now," noted midfielder Paul Hartley. "We looked like we would score and we're creating lots of chances. I think we've got the bit between our teeth now.

"For the first 20 minutes we were a little sluggish. Dundee United hit the bar and had a goal ruled out for offside, but we got a vital goal at the right time and managed to score again before the break. In the second half we always looked like we'd score more and it's a good three points for us.

"I'm really pleased for Mirsad because he's had a really hard time. He hasn't had a chance to play here but yesterday he looked like an £800,000 player. He was fantastic for us. I'll say one thing for him. Even though he hasn't been playing, he's always come into training with a smile on his face."

The Bosnian's grin was as wide as the River Forth last night, and rightly so. Finally the Hearts supporters have been treated to a sighting of the qualities that marked him out as special during his spell with the Belgian club Racing Genk. But is he the solution to the problem of who can oust Saulius Mikoliunas from the team? Only one man has that answer, and he now has plenty food for thought regarding the right side of midfield.

Tynecastle's stands contained a smattering of Sparta Prague tops for the afternoon as the primary colour of their club's UEFA Cup conquerors found favour with supporters who had journeyed to the Czech capital. Whether Ivanauskas' team selection did likewise prior to kick-off is a matter for some debate, the Lithuanian making six changes from Prague and handing his compatriot Andrius Velicka his first SPL start. However, the end result certainly justified the tinkering.

It was the 18th consecutive game in which the home side had been altered, and Ivanauskas has now presided over an astonishing 49 changes to his team in the last eight matches. This one doubled up as a free advert for the Danish-based sports manufacturer Hummel with both kits heavily featuring those trademark arrows.

First to threaten were United after a blatant and a needless hand ball by Mikoliunas almost cost his side a goal.

The set-piece was lofted towards the home penalty area, the header from Greg Cameron was precise and deliberate into the path of sole striker Hunt, who spun on the six-yard line to dispatch a shot off Craig Gordon's forearm. Mikoliunas recovered from an erratic opening period to supply occasional evidence of his passing range as well as a hint of his technical ability and work rate, commodities which really must be utilised more often for the cause.

Then, in the very next step, he would return for a period to misplacing passes and ceding possession. This only fuelled the ire pouring down from the stands in his direction.

Ivanauskas would have been delighted with the swiftness at which his players were turning defence into attack, although Steven Pressley was fortunate to evade a 21st-minute booking for barging Hunt as United exposed the space resulting from their hosts' collective forward movement.

The game was increasing in pace and initially Hearts toiled to adapt. Craig Conway crossed from the byline on United's right for Stuart Duff, unmarked, to plant a diving header onto the crossbar. Then a ball into the box from the opposite side saw Duff elude all defenders again at the back post, his connection forcing Gordon to parry the ball straight to Hunt who was ruled offside as he converted from two yards.

The United striker appeared to run on to the ball which would have rendered him onside in a goalscoring position, therefore the only possible explanation for disallowing the goal would have been that the Irishman was offside when the initial cross was dispatched towards Duff. Had the strike been allowed to stand, the game would have taken on a different complexion.

The experience served to jolt Hearts and on the half-hour Mikoliunas resumed productive mode for a few seconds. As he ventured forward from a position behind Makela and Velicka it was the Finn who looked the better option for a pass, but the enigmatic Lithuanian knew better for once and played Velicka in to strike his first Hearts goal from the inside-left channel. In the technical area, Ivanauskas remained totally impassive.

By now both forwards were posing no end of problems to the visiting defence and on the far side Beslija was ravaging his direct opponent, Christian Kalvenes. The Bosnian moved inside to test the United goalkeeper Derek Stillie with his left foot before Mikoliunas galloped through the middle to feed Hartley in space, but the Scotland midfielder arced his shot into the stand.

With the home team well in the ascendancy a second goal was easy to anticipate and it was no surprise that Beslija was a key component of the build-up. He looped a raking cross ball from deep on the right flank into Stillie's six-yard box, prompting Makela to peel away from David Proctor and stroke home with a first-time left-footed shot as the ball dropped in front of him. "How good was that cross from Mirsad Beslija?" exclaimed stadium announcer Scott Wilson as he announced the goalscorer. He had called it perfectly. The second half was a much tighter affair. United winger Stuart Duff tried desperately to fashion a way back into the match for his side, but too often met resistance from a combination of Ibrahim Tall and Pressley.

Deividas Cesnauskis, introduced for Mikoliunas to arguably the most vehement cheer of the afternoon, clipped the United crossbar on the hour after cutting inside from the left past Proctor.

Craig Brewster, the visiting manager, was denied a consolation on 83 minutes when no-one gambled enough to position themselves in the centre for Collin Samuel's cutback. Then, just when everyone appeared to have settled for a 2-0 scoreline, Hearts swamped their opponents to double their tally and increase the pressure on the luckless Brewster

Cries of "penalty" for hand ball against Alan Archibald in the United box were followed by even louder howls when the defender tripped the onrushing Beslija in his very next act. Hartley stepped up to confidently slam the resultant penalty beyond Stillie. A suspect backward pass saw Archibald culpable again and allowed the substitute attack of Roman Bednar and Jamie Mole to combine. The Czech dispossessed Archibald and squared the ball for Mole to knock home a convincing fourth goal. It may have flattered Hearts a tad but for a player who was blamed, rather unjustly, for the lack of a goal in Prague it was a satisfying response.

Hearts may indeed be out of two European competitions, but domestically they are without question back to making a fight of this league championship. By sheer coincidence, their next destination is Easter Road.

Taken from the Scotsman