Nadé spares Berra's blushes as derby displays Edinburgh's best

Ewan Murray at Easter Road
Monday November 5, 2007
The Guardian

It would take an economic shift of monumental proportions for the axis of Scottish football power to shift from Glasgow to Edinburgh but games such as this demonstrate that fans in the capital are rarely sold short when their two clubs meet. This was a derby filled with excitement, bite and no shortage of good football.

Either side could have snatched victory but such an outcome would have been harsh. Hearts remain eighth in the Premier League but the point will be of great value to them, completing a satisfactory five-day spell in which they also defeated Celtic in the CIS Cup.

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Christophe Berra's own-goal had given Hibs, who sit third, a half-time lead but Christian Nadé equalised within 60 seconds of the start of the second half. What followed represented the Scottish game at its best but much post-match analysis concerned a more than reasonable penalty claim from the hosts, five minutes before they opened the scoring. "It was a definite penalty," said the Hibs manager, John Collins, of a barge by Berra on Lewis Stevenson. "There is no doubt about that."

Hibs' midfield dominated in the opening period but the visitors had the better chances. Andrew Driver and Andrius Velicka missed glorious opportunities and such wastefulness proved costly as a Filipe Morais corner flew into the visitors' net off Berra's thigh.

Harsh words were spoken in the Hearts dressing room during the interval. Michael Stewart, the Hearts midfielder, admitted his team's tactics had "digressed into a shambles" which "a man with a white stick" could have identified and Hearts opened the second half in vivacious style. Nadé bundled home from close range after the home defence allowed Andrius Ksanavicius, the smallest player on the pitch, ample opportunity to head the ball into the striker's path.

Hearts pressed hard for a winner which would have banished memories of Hibs' victory at Tynecastle on the opening weekend. The substitute Mauricio Pinilla was the most guilty of profligacy, shooting wide three minutes from time.

It took 75 minutes for the referee, Charlie Richmond, to issue his first booking, an indicator of the admirable spirit this pulsating match took place in. Such a shame, then, that an unsavoury incident involving Hibs fans may overshadow matters; a bottle was thrown on to the pitch in the second half, something which should interest Scottish football authorities six weeks after a supporter was allowed on to the Easter Road pitch unchallenged after a victory against Celtic.

Man of the match Guillaume Beuzelin (Hibernian)