Victors leave feeling hard done by

7 Mar 2011

It took Alexei Eremenko an age to leave the pitch, but then perhaps the walk was prolonged to allow him to understand why he alone had been ordered off.

His face – sullen, dark, frowning – said enough about the disgruntlement he felt, so the rage of manager Mixu Paatelainen towards the referee must have felt like a vindication.

Eremenko was sent off after squaring up to Marius Zaliukas, although in the Kilmarnock midfielder's defence, he was not the aggressor. At one stage, Zaliukas even grabbed him by the throat before David Templeton rushed in to push Eremenko to the ground. Templeton had been fouled by the Kilmarnock midfielder initially, and the skirmish prompted a wider altercation before Steven McLean, the referee, restored order.

It was Eremenko who received the sole red card, for pushing back at the Hearts defender, McLean explained to Paatelainen afterwards. The fact that Zaliukas and Templeton were only booked was the cause of Paatelainen's fury. The sense among the Kilmarnock players is that Eremenko – the creative and imaginative heart of their side – has become a target for roguish attention.

"Every time he touches the ball from the first minute, people try to go hard on him," said Manuel Pascali. "You have to be Jesus to stay patient. As soon as [Zaliukas] realised Alexei was being sent off, his face changed, because he was expecting to be sent off as well. The only way you can stop Alexei is to wind him up."

Hearts did not set out to victimise Eremenko – or else they would not have waited until he had started to find his passing range and scored the second goal – but Zaliukas and Templeton were fortunate not to be punished more for their involvement, the Hearts captain in particular.

"Every week I understand the referees, I back them, I realise how difficult their job is," Paatelainen said. "But we get players sent off for lesser offences than opponents throw at us. Maybe I need to change my tone. If I'm right, then yes [we will appeal]. I saw what happened. Who starts things is the most guilty, [and] it wasn't Alexei Eremenko."

It may have been frustration that raised the heckles of the Hearts players, although Eremenko's tackle on Templeton was rash, since by then they were two goals down and facing their second defeat at Tynecastle to these opponents. Ten minutes into the second half, the game was effectively over.

Hearts contributed to their own downfall when Craig Thomson sent a rash clearance straight to David Silva, who was then allowed to run unopposed to the edge of the area before scoring. The second goal came from a deft series of passes between Eremenko and William Gros, the latter crossing for the former to turn the ball into the roof of the net.

"We didn't defend [the first goal] well," said Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager. "But when Kilmarnock won here [earlier in the season], it gave us a shot in the arm and hopefully that happens again. Everybody has us down as being guaranteed third, but until that's clinched you've got to do the same week in, week out, Hopefully that's now on board."

Jefferies did not want to make excuses, yet he was missing the likes of Kevin Kyle, Ian Black, Andrew Driver and Lee Wallace. But Hearts remain 13 points ahead of Kilmarnock, whose players have not forgotten predictions that they would be embroiled in relegation trouble.

"In the summer, I was reading some newspaper and the odds were against us," said Pascali. "Some people expected Kilmarnock to be relegated and we are pushing for Europe now; this is why people love football."

50' 1-0 David Silva intercepts Craig Thomson's clearance and runs to the edge of the area before shooting past Marian Kello.

56' 2-0 Alexei Eremenko flicks the ball to William Gros then, after a series of one-twos, the striker crosses for Eremenko to score high into the net.

71' Eremenko brings down David Templeton, prompting Marius Zaliukas to grab him by the throat. Eremenko pushes the defender, then Templeton rushes in to shove Eremenko to the ground. The Kilmarnock midfielder is sent off and the two Hearts players are booked.

Taken from the Herald