Hearts 0 Kilmarnock 2

Mar 6 2011 Gordon Waddell, Sunday Mail

MIXU PAATELAINEN watched 10-man Kilmarnock run over Hearts - then claimed he's finished being a soft touch for Scotland's refs.

The Finn was ecstatic to see his side ram home their second Tynecastle triumph of the season with two stunning goals from David Silva and Alexei Eremenko inside five second-half minutes proving a just reward for Killie's superiority.

But the win was soured by a red card for Finland midfielder Eremenko 17 minutes from time, dished out by ref Steven McLean after a square-up involving Marius Zaliukas and David Templeton.

Both Hearts players were only shown yellow despite the Lithuanian appearing to have his hands round Eremenko's throat while Templeton delivered an aggressive two-handed shove that floored the Finn.

And afterwards Mixu, who has made a season-long point of refusing to ream refs, snapped.

He seethed: "According to the ref Alexei raised his hands on Zaliukas' chest.

"The way I saw it, Zaliukas had Eremenko by the throat so why is Alexei sent off and not Zaliukas?

"Templeton then comes in with real aggression into that scene and puts our player on the ground.

"And after that incident there was foul after foul - how on earth did two or three of their players stay on the pitch?

"I really cant understand it. Every week I back the refs because I understand what a difficult job they have.

"But we get our players sent off for lesser offences.

"Maybe I need to change my tone - what happened was unbelievable and I'm so disappointed."

Paatelainen was also spoken to by McLean in the wake of the incident and the Finnish boss revealed: "He said to me I needed to calm down but I was perfectly calm.

"I saw exactly what happened and if TV evidence proves I'm right about what I saw, I'll consider an appeal."

The red card controversy should not cloud the class of Killie's win though.

At the end of October their 3-0 win at Tynecastle lifted them offthe bottom of the SPL and turned their season around - and ironically did the same for Hearts.

And while the 16-point gap that has opened between the sides since that clash is unassailable, Killie showed they can bridge the gulf comfortably on a one-off basis.

Hearts' team still had an air of the makeshift about it - any side missing Andy Webster, Lee Wallace, Kevin Kyle, Ian Black and Andy Driver would - but they still had enough invention to get the better of the first 20 minutes.

Templeton's form for the Jambos may have shaded since his early-season excellence but he was busy in this one and unlucky to see a looping header drop down off Anssi Jaakkola's bar with the keeper beaten.

Killie were defending in numbers but breaking with them as well, aided and abetted by Zaliukas.

His halfway line gift allowed Eremenko to measure a great ball to Liam Kelly but the midfielder blazed his angled finish high and wide from 12 yards.

Just after the half-hour Silva stepped up his game with a couple of decent efforts as well.

The winger saw his corner from the left miss the back post by inches as Hearts keeper Marian Kello got lost among the bodies then his goal-bound shot was deflected wide by the head of Ryan Stevenson.

Silva looked in the mood and delivered an impressive opener five minutes after the break.

Again, though, it wasn't without some home help, Craig Thomson's poor clearance gifted Killie possession - but from there on it was all class.

The Portuguese playmaker's run from left to right took bodies, as did a magnificent decoy diagonal from Kelly to create the space, and the low finish was silky smooth from the edge of the box.

Silva almost teed up the second two minutes later, drawing Thomson and Adrian Mrowiec before feeding striker William Gros in the slot they left behind but the Reunion kid's finish was poor.

He made up for it seconds later, though, his cute near-post delivery from the byeline being clipped sweetly home off the underside of the bar by Eremenko for No.2 after a fantastic buildup.

Hearts were all at sea and lucky not to see No.3 sail past their keeper before the hour was out.

Again it was Eremenko pulling the strings, again it was Gros' raw energy leaving Mrowiec behind - but again his inexperience told as he lashed his shot wide from 25 yards instead of running the Pole down.

Killie had to ride out the last 17 minutes a man down.

Eremenko's challenge on Templeton prompted a furious reaction from Zaliukas and the former Scotland Under-21 winger, although the Killie star was the only one to walk after the melee.

The Finn was alleged by some in the ground  although not the ref - to have moved his head towards Zaliiukas.

The whistler took an eternity to sort it out but when he did there seemed an imbalance in the cards.

Either way, Templeton should have seen red himself with 10 minutes left for a deliberate trip on Kelly as he broke.

As it was, though, Hearts never put a dent in the 10 men and Paatelainen said: "I'm so pleased - the organisation and commitment was 100 per cent.

"We took it from the training ground on to the pitch and gave Hearts no room at all."

Man of the match

Alexei Eremenko: Great shifts by Kelly, Bryson, Silva and Gros but Killie's class always comes from Eremenko - and his questionable red doesn't stop him getting the nod.

Taken from the Daily Record