Hearts 2 - 1 Falkirk

It's no coincidence that successful teams are invariably experts in the art of doing just enough. Hearts may have all but given up any pretence of challenging the Old Firm, but a fourth successive one-goal victory suggests Csaba Laszlo's side could have mastered the Glasgow clubs' knack of squeezing through matches in which points are easily dropped.

Just as gratifying to the Hearts supporters on Saturday was the fact that their side were able to rely on another staple of the Old Firm's dominance: individual brilliance rescuing the team from a perilous position.

Bruno Aguiar performed the Shunsuke Nakamura role, retrieving an early deficit with a magnificently-executed free-kick, while Andrew Driver found his outstanding solo winner subject to the highest praise imaginable.
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"A lot of people have said to me Andy's goal was like Maradona's," Laszlo said afterwards, referring of course to the Argentina manager's iconic second goal against England at Mexico 86.

"If people are making parallels like that, so be it. We have been telling Andy to run at defenders, to go one-on-one and finish, and this is reward for all the hard work he has done since the summer."

On form and in full flow, Driver - who turned 21 on Thursday - is undoubtedly one of Scottish football's most electrifying talents, and although he joked afterwards that it had been a "fluke" and professed embarrassment with the Maradona comparisons, his goal truly was a joy to watch. Not that Arnau Riera will enjoy reruns of the Hearts winger snatching on his wayward pass, slaloming his way past one despairing challenge, then another, before side-stepping goalkeeper Scott Flinders to stroke the ball home with his weaker foot.

But while John Hughes spoke afterwards of Falkirk having "shot themselves in the foot" at this decisive moment, it would be mean-spirited to attribute Hearts' winner to anything other than a moment of genuine inspiration.

Hughes' frustration was entirely understandable though. After all, this was a game in which his side had led after 16 minutes, when Steve Lovell's pace unlocked the leaden-footed home defence and enabled the striker to slip the ball under the advancing Janos Balogh.

Falkirk, as tidy and assured in possession as ever, looked confident at this stage of claiming their first win at Tynecastle in 13 years. However, they reckoned without the dead ball expertise of the ever-improving Aguiar.

The former Benfica midfielder appears intent on making up for the 17 months he lost to a serious ankle injury, and the dipping, swerving 25-yard free-kick he sent crashing past Flinders was just reward for his overall industry and invention.

Michael Higdon could and should have salvaged a point for Falkirk in injury time, heading wide when the net looked sure to bulge, but the Bairns could have no real complaints at bidding farewell to their six-match unbeaten run.

As for Hearts, whose grip on third was strengthened by Dundee United dropping points at home to Hamilton, they would appear to be in the best shape they have been for years.

Taken from the Herald