Robson fires hat-trick for United as Hearts trio lose the plot

This game ended in utter ignominy for Heart of Midlothian, who, let alone finding themselves being mugged on the pitch, had three players shown red cards before these 90 minutes were up yesterday. In search of a new manager, confusion in the Tynecastle boardroom, and now plunging down the Clydesdale Bank Premier League following a sixth straight defeat... if this isn’t a crisis clad in maroon, what is it?

Recent weeks and months had been wretched for both these sides, so one of them had to find long-awaited respite at Tannadice. Dundee United, though, could hardly have imagined it would all be handed to them in such an ill-disciplined rumpus as this.

The cause of Hearts, as poorly as they had played, wasn’t helped by a sequence of ordering-offs. First, Marius Zaliukas went after 67 minutes for what appeared to be a punch thrown at Lee Wilkie inside the Hearts area, to be followed by the dismissals of Lee Wallace and Michael Stewart. The Zaliukas incident not only resulted in a straight red card but, after some confusion involving the referee, Alan Freeland, a penalty was also awarded in United’s favour, which Barry Robson, scorer of a hat-trick, safely despatched.

Wallace may have been unlucky to be red-carded for a subsequent challenge on Robson, but Stewart’s dismissal was bizarre, following a verbal altercation with a Hearts supporter in the stand. That incident earned the midfield player a second yellow card and summed up the utter disintegration of Hearts.

Given this appalling time for Scottish football, the game had an eerie quality to it, a sense among the players of, if not quite going through the motions, then wanting these 90 minutes to be concluded as swiftly as possible. Life must go on following the Phil O’Donnell tragedy but it was still a struggle, even amid this mayhem, not to be distracted by recurring thoughts of him.

The atmosphere at Tannadice had been sombre. To many it is a pity that our traditional minute’s silence has been replaced by a minute’s applause, especially given that the silence was so often abused at football matches, but this is how it was yesterday in honour of O’Donnell. To a man, Tannadice rose and applauded the late Motherwell captain... words which, even after all the coverage of the Fir Park tragedy, still seem incomprehensible and nonsensical.

United were aggrieved that this match was ordered to go ahead by the Scottish Premier League, especially as the Old Firm had been granted permission to cancel their derby yesterday in Glasgow. It is one of those issues that is hotly debated in football, and over which there seems no clear right or wrong.

The Scottish game has been divided about matches being played since O’Donnell died, but what no one has sought to do is diminish the death itself. It was clear here yesterday that the football community is still in a daze over it.

United took the lead after 22 minutes, but Hearts were the architects of their own undoing. Steve Banks, the goalkeeper, had no option but to leap and clutch Robbie Neilson’s passback right under his own crossbar, for which United were awarded a free kick six yards out. With a phalanx of Hearts players milling around their goalline, Wilkie rolled the ball to Robson, who lashed it high into the net.

Yet United failed to build on their breakthrough and Hearts pulled themselves level 15 minutes later. From Stewart’s corner, Zaliukas threw himself at the ball and nodded it down towards the far post. Grzegorz Szamotulski, the United goalkeeper, was already beaten by the time Christophe Berra lunged at the ball and forced it over the line.

At last, this match caught fire and revealed some urgency, though Hearts had been forced to replace Andrew Driver, who limped off midway through the first half. This incident itself caused a remarkable event – the sight as a substitute of the long-forgotten Devidas Cesnauskis, a player who hadn’t been seen in a Hearts shirt for at least 14 months.

United reclaimed their lead in controversial circumstances after 67 minutes. Following a tangle between Wilkie and Zaliukas in the Hearts box, the Lithuanian was shown a straight red card. The referee, however, had to be summoned by his assistant, Craig Young, to be reminded that, as the incident had occurred inside the area, United should also be awarded a penalty. Robson duly converted.

From Robson’s free kick, Hunt made it 3-1 for United seven minutes from time. Wallace was then red-carded for an alleged trip on Robson, who scored his third and United’s fourth from the spot.

Dundee United (4-5-1): G Szamotulski – S Dillon, L Wilkie (sub: G Kenneth, 89), D Dods, D Grainger – B Robson, D Robertson (sub: D Swanson, 60), M Kerr, M Gomis, W Flood – N Hunt. Substitutes not used: E McLean, C Conway, P Buaben, J Robertson, E Odhiambo. Booked: Robson, Gomis.

Heart of Midlothian (4-4-2): S Banks – R Neilson, C Berra, M Zaliukas, L Wallace – S Mikoliunas (sub: M Pospisil, 81), M Stewart, R Palazuelos, A Driver (sub: D Cesnauskis, 32) – A Velicka, C Elliot (sub: C Nade, 64). Substitutes not used: A Basso, J Goncalves, E Jonsson, R McGowan. Booked: Velicka, Stewart, Pospisil. Sent off: Zaliukas, Wallace, Stewart.

Referee: A Freeland.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk