Aberdeen 1-0 Hearts

Barry Nicholson's fine through ball set up Lovell to drive home from just inside the area after seven minutes.

Tomas Kancelskis denied Nicholson with a fine block and goalkeeper Craig Gordon saved to deny Craig Brewster.

Hearts were reduced to 10 men after 62 minutes when Laryea Kingston received a second yellow card as Dons eased home.

Andrius Velicka and Tomas Kanchelskis had come in for Hearts in place of Ibrahim Tall and Edgaras Jankauskas.

Aberdeen welcomed back Jamie Smith and Craig Brewster to their starting line-up , with Darren Mackie and Gary Dempsey dropping out.

The home side made a lively start to the game, Brewster connecting with a Michael Hart cross inside three minutes to flick a neat effort just over the crossbar.

And Nicholson delivered a defence-splitting pass through to Lovell, who opened the scoring in brilliant fashion after seven minutes.

The striker lashed a half-volley past stranded Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon from just inside the penalty area.

Hearts' lack of ideas was highlighted by their inability to take advantage while Aberdeen were reduced to 10 men while Chris Clark had a head cut patched up.

Aberdeen continued to look the more dangerous outfit and were only denied a second goal by a strong block from Kancelskis after Nicholson broke into the box.

The Hearts defender was then injured and replaced with Christos Karipidis five minutes before the break.

Laryea Kingston reacts angrily after being sent off
Hearts' Laryea Kingston received two red cards at Pittodrie

But the visitors continued to be under pressure and a strong save from Gordon kept out a Brewster volley.

An injury to Calum Elliot forced another Hearts change at the break, with Michal Pospisil replacing the young Scot up front.

Nicholson should have done better with the first chance after the break, but his low shot was saved by Gordon.

But the Dons were handed an advantage after 62 minutes, when Kingston, already cautioned early in the second period for persistent fouling, was shown a second yellow card for a late lunge on Nicholson.

The injured Aberdeen midfielder also left the field, to be replaced with Zander Diamond, while Kingston apparently was later shown a second red card.

Hearts' 10 men limited the Dons' sights at goal, but when Lovell did create space for himself with a smart turn, his shot was cleared off the line by Linas Philibaitis.

The visitors threatened with a late free-kick from Andrew Driver that curled over, but Aberdeen never looked like conceding their lead.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Hart, Anderson, Considine, Foster, Jamie Smith, Severin, Nicholson (Diamond 66), Clark, Lovell (Dempsey 83), Brewster (Miller 87).
Subs Not Used: Soutar, Touzani, Daniel Smith, Maguire.

Goal: Lovell 7.

Hearts: Gordon, Kancelsku (Karipidis 39), Berra, Zaliukas, Wallace, Ivaskevicius, Kingston, Pilibaitis, Driver, Velicka (Jankauskas 71), Elliot (Pospisil 46).
Subs Not Used: Banks, Fyssas, Jonsson. Sent Off: Kingston (63).

Booked: Kingston, Ivaskevicius, Driver, Berra, Jankauskas.

Att: 13,964

Ref: S Conroy

Taken from the BBC