Hearts 0-1 Dundee United

Published Date: 01 August 2011
By BARRY ANDERSON
INDICATIONS of fatigue were scarce as Hearts set about Dundee United with genuine enthusiasm.
It was profligacy in front of goal which cost them, added to a lapse in concentration from captain Marius Zaliukas. Once Dundee United moved in front through Jon Daly's free header, they implemented a vice-like grip on this match and saw it out in a thoroughly professional manner.

Hearts' returned from Europa League duty in Hungary in the early hours of Friday morning after securing a 1-1 draw with Paksi SE. Yet they looked anything but tired in a first half which saw them create, and pass up, several scoring opportunities against a dynamic United side. Then Zaliukas switched off at Willo Flood's 37th-minute corner, and Daly punished him in ruthless fashion.

Needless to say Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, was rather upset at the concession of such a soft goal. As would Vladimir Romanov have been looking on from the directors' box. "Later in the game we looked a little bit heavy legged but that's no excuse," said Jefferies. "We did enough in the first half to warrant not being 1-0 down. When we did carve out good opportunities, their keeper was excellent and their defenders got in the way.

"The big disappointment of the first half was for them to score such an easy goal from a routine set play. Marius was designated to pick Daly up. You can't give him that free run in the box and expect to get away with it. Nine times out of ten he will punish you, which he did. That undid what I thought was a decent performance against a good side. We were always on the front foot and put them under presure, but we had to be careful because they are good at hitting teams on the break. They hit the bar, Marian's had a good save but with the crowd behind us we were pushing forward. Dundee United defended very well.

"In the second half I felt we didn't have the tempo we did in the first half. When we did have a chance, the goalkeeper saved it again. The other times we didn't get a break. In the last ten minutes we got enough balls in there from corners, free-kicks and throw-ins but the goalkeeper was coming and taking them too easily for me. There wasn't enough pressure, maybe that was because of the tired legs.

"I'm disappointed with the result because I thought a draw would have been fairer on the balance of play. We weren't that bad, the result just didn't go in our favour."

Jefferies admitted Zaliukas had taken responsibility for Daly's free header, which came seconds after the United forward had stung Marian Kello's palms with a volley. That world-class save from the Slovakian proved academic when Daly rose to meet the corner.

"You could see Marius' reaction as soon as it happened. He's held his hands up because he knows that's the man he should've been picking up," said Jefferies. "At this level, there's not a lot between the teams. It was just that one moment where, if you're slack, you get caught. I don't see us getting many free headers against other teams. You need to be in there anticipating it."

Even without departing striker David Goodwillie, United looked dangerous in attack but were inclined to play on the break at Tyneastle. They struck the crossbar on 15 minutes when Adrian Mrowiec fouled John Rankin on the edge of the penalty area. Rankin drove the set-piece powerfully against Kello's goal frame.

Hearts fashioned the clearest first-half openings but they went a begging, two from Stephen Elliott and one from John Sutton. Both players benefited from Danny Grainger's left-sided crosses but could not convert from central positions inside the penalty area. David Templeton displayed mesmerising close control in the second half when Sutton flicked Kello's kickout into his path. The winger took a touch 20 yards out and dispatched an instant shot which raked towards the roof of the net until Dusan Pernis, the visiting goalkeeper, arrived to push it over the crossbar.

Disappointed as he was with the final outcome, Jefferies was not for becoming engulfed in a state of panic. "It's only the second league game. We need to look at the first half. I thought we did enough to come in ahead, being down was a sickener but we caused it ourselves," he said, before stressing that no Hearts player will require to be lifted for Thursday's European encounter.

"Thursday will take care of itself, the crowd lift us. We've gone and done the first part over there and kept the tie very much alive. Now we hope to go and finish it off."

Peter Houston, the Dundee United manager, was elated at leaving Gorgie with three points. "I knew we would get a tough game here and that's what it was," he said. "We survived good pressure from Hearts as they pushed their full-backs forward. Possibly we could have had a penalty (when Mrowiec fouled Rankin]. We hit the bar and Daly brought a world-class save from their goalkeeper just prior to the goal. Sometimes in 90 minutes you don't create as many chances as that at Tynecastle. Dusan Pernis didn't have a lot of saves. It was a hard-fought three points but I thought they were merited."

Taken from the Scotsman