Hearts 0 - 3 Aberdeen: Hearts broken up by rampant Dons

Published Date: 28 January 2010
By STUART BATHGATE
ABERDEEN brought Hearts' seven-game unbeaten league run crashing to an end last night, closing the gap on the fifth-placed Edinburgh side with a well- deserved victory.
If Fraser Fyvie's early opener came slightly against the run of play, by the time Darren Mackie scored not long into the second half the visitors' superiority had been comprehensively demonstrated. Derek Young's late strike only rounded off a woeful night for Hearts, for whom this was the heaviest domestic defeat of the season.

With two games in hand on Hearts, Aberdeen are well placed to climb above their rivals soon, although Motherwell are still also in the mix for a place in the top six. Whether Hearts stay in contention may depend less on how they react to this reverse, demoralising though it was, than on whether they manage to strengthen their increasingly threadbare-looking squad over what remains of the transfer window.

The game began tentatively, but Hearts at least displayed more purpose than they had shown in the Scottish Cup tie at Pittodrie two and a half weeks earlier, when they went down meekly to a 2-0 defeat.

Mackie, who had been man of the match in that game, was fortunate to escape a booking after five minutes when he caught Ismael Bouzid in the face with an elbow, but he was soon making a more positive contribution to the evening when he created the opening goal.

It came with a dozen minutes on the clock, and long after Marius Zaliukas had been narrowly off target with a shot from the left edge of the box. Two or three heavily contested challenges in midfield resulted in the ball breaking to Mackie, and the striker slipped a through ball beyond the Hearts defence for Fyvie to chase. Marian Kello came out to narrow the angle, but Fyvie remained composed and stroked the ball past the home goalkeeper. At 16 years and ten months old, it made him the youngest scorer in SPL history.

Hearts' confidence was shaken by the loss of the goal, and they took some time to exert any real pressure. Scott Robinson and Gordon Smith worked hard up front, but the former in particular found it hard going against Jerel Ifil and Charlie Mulgrew at the core of the Aberdeen defence, and neither striker was getting the kind of support he needed from his midfield.

Hearts' most common source of goals in recent games has been penalties by Michael Stewart, and with half an hour played he had an appeal for another after getting the better of Ifil then going down in a challenge. Referee Mike Tumilty, however, waved away Stewart's appeals – and three other, equally unconvincing claims in the subsequent five minutes as Hearts scrapped their way back into the game.

By that time Csaba Laszlo had been forced into a change, with Lee Wallace limping off and being replaced by Ian Black. The loss of the defender forced a reshuffle which in fact gave Hearts more balance, with Ruben Palazuelos moving from right midfield to left-back and Black taking up his position.

Three minutes from half-time the substitute had a half-chance to put his side level when Robinson knocked the ball on for him in the box, but he did not get enough weight on the ball and Jamie Langfield gathered with ease.

Mackie came close to extending his team's lead shortly after the start of the second half, but his shot from a Richard Foster cross was well saved by Kello. That second goal was only delayed, however, and minutes later Mackie did get the ball in the net.

Mark Kerr did the damage this time, sliding the ball through for Mackie to run on to in a move which resembled the first goal. With no Hearts outfield player close to him, Mackie had ample time to pick his spot and dink the ball past Kello.

Laszlo's team needed a goal quickly to get back into the game, but in their eagerness to get men forward they were leaving a lot of space at the back, with the result that Aberdeen appeared more likely to add to their tally. With his team being out-thought and out-muscled, the manager decided to introduce the little-seen David Witteveen up front in place of Smith.

Laszlo has consistently argued that Witteveen, who came from Austrian amateur football, is not ready to play in the SPL. The cynical interpretation of his use as a substitute would therefore be that the manager was attempting to demonstrate to his own employers that, as he has been pleading for months, he is desperately in need of an experienced striker.

Rocky Visconte then came on for Palazuelos in the home side's last alteration of the evening, but it was too little too late from a Hearts perspective. Aberdeen's organisation was better, they were more composed, they were creating more chances, and most importantly their finishing was superior.

With quarter of an hour to go Young made it three direct from a free-kick delivered from some 40 yards out. Lee Miller tried to get his head to the ball, but perhaps fortunately for his team he missed and it drifted past Kello into the net.

"Are you watching, Darren Barr?" the Aberdeen supporters sang, referring to the Falkirk captain's decision to sign a pre-contract with Hearts rather than their own club. "Are you watching, Vladimir Romanov?" must have been what Laszlo was tempted to chant, as he continues to try to persuade the club's owner to stump up for reinforcements.

Hearts: Kello, J Thomson, Bouzid, Zaliukas, L Wallace (Black 35), Jonsson, Palazuelos (Visconte 61), Stewart, Obua, Robinson, Smith (Witteveen 57). Subs not used: Balogh, Kucharski, R Wallace, Mulrooney.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Mulgrew (Diamond 72), Ifil, Foster, McDonald, Grassi, Young, Kerr, Fyvie (Low 85), Miller, Mackie (Maguire 78). Subs not used: Nelson, Duff, Marshall, Paton.

Taken from the Scotsman