Hearts 1 Aberdeen 1

Aberdeen remain in the driving seat for a UEFA Cup place after Barry Nicholson scored a dramatic injury-time equaliser to earn a precious point at Tynecastle.

Andrius Velicka's 14th-minute strike looked to have been enough for Hearts but Nicholson, who was shown a second yellow card for taking his shirt off following his goal, ensured Aberdeen remain four points clear in third place.

The match lived up to its billing as it swung from end to end during the entire 90 minutes with plenty of goalmouth action.

The visitors made a bright start and forced a corner inside two minutes after putting Hearts on the back foot.

From the set-piece, the Pittodrie outfit came tantalisingly close to breaking the deadlock with Laryea Kingston clearing Lee Miller's volley off the line from Nicholson's corner.

Hearts survived that scare and then found their composure to press the Dons at the other end, winning successive corners but the Aberdeen defence stood firm.

There was little room in the middle of the park in a high-tempo start and Hearts took the lead in the 14th minute through Velicka after a move which began with Kestutis Ivaskevicius cutting out a Zander Diamond pass.

Ivaskevicius found Roman Bednar who curled the ball through to Velicka and the Lithuanian beat Jamie Langfield with an angled shot from 16 yards.

The pace of the match calmed down following Hearts' opener but it was Aberdeen who enjoyed territorial advantage as they forced the hosts' defence into some last-ditch defending.

Hearts and Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon did well to grasp a venomous Nicholson shot and was grateful to see Richard Foster's ambitious long-range effort sail over his bar.

Aberdeen dominated possession as the woodwork then came to Hearts' rescue 11 minutes from the interval when Lee Miller's header from Michael Hart's cross came back off the post.

From the follow-up, Jamie Smith's shot was well blocked by Christophe Berra and, seconds later, Smith hit another effort inches wide.

Richard Foster did well to win a free-kick on the edge of the box for Aberdeen in the 50th minute but picked up a knock to the head in the process after a collision with substitute Ibrahim Tall which saw both players require treatment.

Jamie Smith failed to make the most of the opportunity to test Gordon, however, as his shot hit the wall.

From Nicholson's corner in the 53rd minute Diamond rose well at the back post but his looping header landed on top of the net with the goalkeeper beaten.

Aberdeen were causing problems in the final third and Darren Mackie had Gordon scrambling across his goal in the 77th minute with a shot following neat build up involving Smith.

In an absorbing contest, both sides looked capable of scoring and Tall was next to try his luck with a back-post header from Andrew Driver's corner that just floated wide.

At the opposite, substitute Steve Lovell planted a curling shot on top of net when he should have done better after being afforded a generous amount of time at the back post.

Just when it looked like Hearts would collect all three points Nicholson nipped in at the back post to slam Craig Brewster's teasing ball into the net in injury-time.

The midfielder, who had been been booked, ran to the delirious away support and, after ripping off his jersey, was subsequently sent off after picking up a second yellow.

Teams:

Hearts Gordon, Karipidis, Kancelsku (Tall 46), Berra, Fyssas,Ivaskevicius, Mikoliunas (Brellier 79), Kingston, Driver,Bednar, Velicka (Pospisil 59).

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

Booked: Kancelsku.

Goals: Velicka 14.

Aberdeen Langfield, Diamond, Severin, Considine (Touzani 46),Hart, Jamie Smith, Nicholson, Foster (Lovell 79), Clark,Mackie, Miller (Brewster 73).

Subs Not Used: Soutar, Daniel Smith, Donald, Maguire.

Sent Off: Nicholson (90).

Booked: Considine, Jamie Smith, Nicholson, Clark.

Goals: Nicholson 90.

Att: 17,208

Ref: B Winter (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com