Falkirk 0 Hearts 1: Laszlo happy as Hearts win ugly again

Published Date: 28 December 2009
By Barry Anderson
CSABA LASZLO gives the impression he cherishes this manner of victory more than any other. Backs to the wall, under pressure, toiling to gain a foothold in the match. Then a goal arrives and provides cause for resilient defending. With sheer will and determination the advantage is preserved until full-time. End result – one-nil Hearts and a manager revelling in an act of defiance.
"It was not easy for us this week with the weather, it is not the best for football," he said. "Physically we were top in the game, we won a lot of one-against-one situations without fouling. We can talk about nice football but it doesn't matter how nice you play, it's important to be successful. For me, a 1-0 game is always the heaviest to win."

Laszlo – and his players – would take this every week. On Boxing Day, they boxed clever and wound up fifth in the league as a result. Pretty it was not, but doggedness helped propel the Edinburgh club towards Europe last season and, if repeated regularly enough, could still see them challenge for the Europa League berths this year. Michael Stewart's 43rd-minute penalty proved decisive after Darren Barr impeded Jose Goncalves inside the area. As the ball nestled beyond Robert Olejnik in the corner of the net, the suspicion was that Hearts would cling to the advantage with their lives having been on the back foot for much of the first half. Falkirk were punished for failing to capitalise on their early superiority, something which irked manager Eddie May come full-time.

"I thought we were terrible, we didn't play at all," he said in a somewhat harsh assessment of his team's efforts. "We didn't kick the ball as far as we can or as high as we can. We don't concentrate on what the other team do.

"We've played well over the last eight games but that was not acceptable in terms of being brave on the ball. Being brave isn't just putting your head in and coming off with 20 stitches. You have to take risks in the final third. We opened them up in the first half but in terms of quality it's not good enough."

May was unhappy with Hearts' penalty award and accused referee Calum Murray of inconsistency. Earlier in the first half he felt Marius Zaliukas, starting his first match since September, barged Carl Finnigan whilst ushering the ball out of play near the Hearts corner flag, yet no foul was given. May felt there was significantly less contact between Barr and Goncalves but Murray pointed instantly to the spot.

"The big boy (Zaliukas] wiped somebody out in the corner, a disgraceful challenge," opined May. "His partner (Goncalves] goes up, gets tickled and goes down. That's the way they play, you just accept it and get on with it. I didn't speak to the referee about it."

Barr was similarly scathing when asked for his view on the penalty: "It was very soft I thought. There was a wee touch and he's just went. There was no malice in it. He was going down before I'd even touched him.

"We were on top for long periods and maybe we could have done better in the final third. They didn't have many shots or crosses and that's the most annoying thing, that we've given them it. They were going down very easy throughout the game. It's hard to make tackles if that's all they're going to do, you need a strong ref as well."

The complaints smacked slightly of sour grapes from a club desperate to move clear of the bottom of the SPL, although there is no denying Falkirk moved the ball around better than Hearts on a bitterly cold day at the Falkirk Stadium. Zaliukas looked shorn of match practice but positives for Laszlo included a fine display of endeavour and craft from Eggert Jonsson in midfield and some industrious attacking play from striker Jamie Mole.

"The players have come closer after a couple of months and the mechanism works better," said the Hungarian. "They showed me on Saturday they can continue this. The good signal against Celtic was that we had a good team spirit. It was no accident to win against Celtic. This is the first time this season we have shown we can play what is necessary at this level. We can win against a good opponent 1-0 away from home. The team was very professional, they did not provoke any yellow or red cards.

"The three points were the merit of the team spirit. For me, this three points was important to keep the distance from the bottom of the league. This team has potential and in the last few games they have had success. To win this kind of game needs more than to go out and take the jersey. Michael Stewart, Ruben Palazuelos, Eggert Jonsson, Ismael Bouzid, Marius Zaliukas and Jose Goncalves tried to help the team."

Laszlo again reserved special praise for Stewart, an experienced head in amongst the youthful exuberance of Mole, Scott Robinson and David Templeton. "Templeton had some mistakes but Michael Stewart and Bouzid talked positively with him.

"With our problems, everything around us, if we get success it can make our life inside and outside the dressing-room easier.

"The fans were very sad about some performances but at Christmas we have given something back. It is not easy to build a new team every year in a very short time. We have done this for a second time and I think this is positive. I am proud of the performance.

"Michael Stewart has taken very big steps in the right way. He is a good captain. Marius Zaliukas is back and I think altogether this is a nice Christmas gift for the Hearts supporters.

"We would like new strikers but the strikers on the field don't take this as negative."

STAR MAN

AFTER an uneasy start, EGGERT JONSSON recovered to deliver a superb midfield performance. He tracked back, won tackles, charged forward and almost found the net with a late header from a corner. A worthy man of the match.

TOP SHOT

FALKIRK broke swiftly following a corner on 19 minutes and CARL FINNIGAN dispatched a strike from distance which Marian Kello had to move quickly to collect. To the Slovakian's credit, he held the ball well.

TOP SAVE

MARIAN KELLO was certainly the busiest of the two goalkeepers and he showed good reactions to get across his goal line and collect Toufik Zerrara's swerving free-kick early in the second half.

REF WATCH

CALUM MURRAY infuriated home supporters with some of his decisions, not least at the penalty. But it was some of the more run-of-the-mill challenges which let him down. Overall, his display just about earned pass marks.

GOALS

Hearts: Stewart (43, pen)

SHOTS ON TARGET

Falkirk 7

Hearts 2

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Falkirk 7

Hearts 5

CORNERS

Falkirk 6

Hearts 11

OFFSIDE

Falkirk 8

Hearts 0

FOULS AGAINST

Falkirk 17

Hearts 17

BOOKINGS

Hearts: Kello 77 (time wasting)

ATTENDANCE

6082

NEXT MATCH

v Motherwell (h), SPL, Wed, 30 Dec, 7.45pm

TEAMS

FALKIRK

Olejnik
Barr
Monteiro
McLean
Twaddle
Flynn
Arfield
Lima
Zerrara
Moutinho
Finnigan

SUBSTITUTIONS

O'Brien 84 (Zerrara)
Marceta 74 (Moutinho)
Bullen 63 (Flynn)
Murdoch
Mitchell
Allison
Wagenaar

FORMATION

4-4-2

HEARTS

Kello
Bouzid
Zaliukas
Goncalves
Wallace
Templeton
Jonsson
Stewart
Palazuelos
Mole
Robinson

SUBSTITUTIONS

Suso 65 (Templeton)
Kucharski 90 (Mole)
Nade 90 (Robinson)
Ridgers
Visconte
Glen
Smith

FORMATION

4-4-1-1

Taken from the Scotsman