Mixu Paatelainen finally finds joy in derby

If revenge is a dish best served cold, then Mixu Paatelainen will probably be glad he was kept waiting so long for his first Edinburgh derby success. It may have taken 14 months but the achievement should help to thaw the Hibernian manager’s frosty relationship with his supporters.

Steven Fletcher’s goal allowed Paatelainen to embrace a victory over Heart of Midlothian at the fifth attempt since the Finn replaced John Collins. The celebrations around Easter Road illustrated just how thin patience had become, as joy was fused with relief. Paatelainen’s tenure has been placed in public doubt, yet he remains convinced that he – and Hibernian – have a future together, perhaps even in Europe next season.

Recently, Paatelainen has been living off his reputation as a Hibernian player, instead of one created by his present job. “These matches are special whether you are a player, manager or supporter,” he said after Saturday’s triumph. “They mean everything to so many people. It’s only three points but the pride of winning derby matches makes it special.”

Hibernian are now just four points behind Aberdeen and Dundee United, who have eyes on qualification for the Europa League. Indeed, Edinburgh could have two sides in the competition, if Hearts hold on to third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

However, no such grand designs seeped into this occasion. Forget the fact that both sides have foreign managers, and that a dozen nonBritish nationalities were scattered among the two starting lineups. This pulsating contest had little quality on offer. It was a turf war, local pride, pure and simple, and the cosmopolitan cast bought into the whole affair.

The two red cards issued by Charlie Richmond, the referee, to Janos Balogh, Hearts’ Hungarian goalkeeper, and Sol Bamba, Hibernian’s Ivorian defender, within a minute of each other before half-time, had an impact on the football that followed.

Hibernian sought to hang on to their precious advantage and went long every time they had the ball, while Hearts were in such a rush to restore parity, that they also bypassed the midfield to try to find their ungainly target man, Christian Nade.

The mêlée between both sides when Bamba was dismissed for bringing down Nade was the sort that has characterised Edinburgh derbies for decades but it was bizarre to see a Middlesbrough lad (Chris Hogg, of Hibernian) and a Spaniard (Ruben Palazuelos, of Hearts) separated by a Ugandan peacemaker (David Obua).

Denes Rosa, Hibernian’s most recent recruit, revealed that he had taken a pledge not to even talk about the derby to Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, who was his manager at Ferençvaros a few seasons ago in Hungary, even though the pair are good friends. “It was difficult before the game to speak to him,” Rosa said. “We did not talk about the game. We spoke about Ferençvaros instead.”

Laszlo is an admirer of Rosa and the Hungary midfield player, who moved to Easter Road from Wolverhampton Wanderers in January, underlined why Glenn Hoddle – who signed him for Wolves – is also in his fan club. The audacious cross-field pass, “pinged” like Hoddle in his glory days, allowed Alan O’Brien to deliver the cross that was sent looping over Balogh in the fourteenth minute by the shoulder of Fletcher.

“That was a fantastic pass,” Paatelainen said. “Denes is a quality player, who showed great technique and vision, but he also showed the other side of his game. He covered a lot of ground and he had to when we went down to ten men.”

The dismissal of Balogh, for scything down Fletcher 15 yards outside the box, appeared to hand Hibernian the contest but a swift red card for Bamba – a decision that Richmond must regret because the punishment merited only yellow – ensured the tension remained at a premium until the bitter end. Michael Stewart was only denied an equaliser when Grzegorz Szamotulski touched his free kick on to the post and then Nade headed against the bar.

Hibernian (4-4-2): G Szamotulski 7 – S Bamba 3, C Hogg 7, R Jones 5, L Stevenson 8 – D Riordan 6 (sub: I Murray, 89min), D Rosa 7, J Rankin 7, A O’Brien 6 (sub: J Keenan, 68 4) – C Nish 5 (sub: D van Zanten, 46 6), S Fletcher 7. Substitutes not used: Y Ma-Kalambay, S Thicot, R Chisholm, J Johansson. Sent off: Bamba.

Heart of Midlothian (4-5-1): J Balogh 5 – R Neilson 7, C Karipidis 5, E Jonsson 5, L Wallace 7 – D Obua 8, M Stewart 7 (sub: A Mrowiec, 76), R Palazuelos 5, B Aguiar 5 (sub: J McDonald, 45 7), A Driver 5 (sub: S Mikoliunas, 26 6) – C Nade 5. Substitutes not used: M Zaliukas, D Cesnauskis, C Elliot, R McGowan. Booked: Stewart. Sent off: Balogh.

Referee C Richmond. Attendance 15,091

Taken from timesonline.co.uk