Hearts held as Morgaro Gomis makes point for United

The hard-fought draw left neither team happy — Hearts because a s econd goal would have killed the contest off, United because they were by far the better side at the end — but in retrospect it may appear a respectable result for both. In light of the injury problems they have suffered already, Hearts in particular can be pleased with the spirit they have shown to take five points from their opening three games.

They have been without Andy Driver, their most gifted player, since day one, and lost Marius Zaliukas, Calum Elliot and Stephen Elliott, among others, in the run-up to this game because of injury. They were then forced into a further change less than an hour before the match when Lee Wallace failed a late fitness test. United had had fewer worries beforehand, but no sooner was the match under way than they were forced into a change, when Danny Swanson pulled up with a hamstring strain and had to be replaced by David Robertson.

With Morgaro Gomis beginning the game on the bench, that meant United's midfield contained only two of the quartet who had been so effective for them last season, Prince Buaben and Craig Conway. In such circumstances it was no surprise that both teams took a while to settle, but Hearts were first into their stride and should have taken the lead through Ryan Stevenson with a dozen minutes on the clock.

Kevin Kyle got his head to a cross despite the attention of two defenders, and with Dusan Pernis slow to respond, Stevenson reached the knockdown first.

But, at full stretch, the makeshift striker could not keep the ball down, and Pernis was relieved to see it graze the bar on its way out of play.

The goalkeeper did better five minutes later when he blocked a fierce shot from the left by David Tem pleton, and after that sluggish start the game was now proceeding at a high tempo as Hearts asked questions of United's stamina following their midweek trip to Athens. The visitors remained dangerous on the break, with David Goodwillie being particularly lively, but it was from a corner forced by the striker that Hearts took the lead.

Barry Douglas floated the corner to the back post, from where Kenneth headed it back across goal. It was cleared to Scott Robertson, who sent the ball back into the far corner, where Suso reached it ahead of Kenneth.

The Spaniard used his pace to take the ball round the defender, then motored on into the United half as Kenneth struggled to get back on terms. Suso found Templeton on the right edge of the box, and the winger raced across the face of goal before shooting home off the far post.

Conway had a good chance to equalise five minutes before half-time when he was put clear 20 yards out, but he blasted his shot over the bar. Apart from that incident, Hearts had remained on top from the time they went ahead, and were well worth their interval lead.

They came close to doubling their advantage not long after the restart when Templeton broke from his own half. As Kyle created space for him by dragging the defence wide, Templeton jinked inside and took the right option by shooting, but was just off target.

United still posed a threat on the break, though, and were far more competitive than in their hapless 4-0 loss to Inverness Caley Thistle seven days earlier.

But they were still playing in combinations of two or three men rather than as a unit, and needed someone to give them more coherence. Peter Houston's answer to that problem was to bring on Gomis in midfield, with Keith Watson coming off and Scott Robertson dropping into defence.

The Frenchman made an immediate difference, helping United pin Hearts back as they enjoyed a period of sustained pressure.

With just over quarter of an hour left that pressure looked like paying off, albeit with the help of the referee, who awarded the visitors a penalty after ruling that Ismael Bouzid had handled a ball from the left. Captain Jon Daly struck the ball firmly enough, but Marian Kello dived to his left to pull off an excellent save.

Far from being dispirited by that failure, United remained on top, and deservedly equalised with six minutes to play. Receiving a throw-in from Kenneth, David Robertson lofted a hopeful ball into the box.

The Hearts defence cleared it from their box, but only so far as Gomis, who found the net with a powerful first-time drive from 30 yards.

From having been well on top, Hearts finished by just hanging on, and in the closing minutes they twice had Kello to thank when he saved shots from the left by Conway.

Hearts: Kello, C Thomson, Barr, Bouzid, Jonsson, Santana (Obua 76), Mrowiec, Black, Templeton (Novikovas 80), Kyle, Stevenson. Subs not used: Balogh, Kucharski, R McGowan, J Thomson, Robinson.

Dundee United: Pernis, Watson (Gomis 67), Dillon, Kenneth, Douglas, Swanson (D Robertson 4), Buaben, S Robertson (Shala 78), Conway, Daly, Goodwillie. Subs not used: Banks, Dixon, Dods, Casalinuovo. Booked: Scott Robertson, Shala.

Taken from the Scotsman