Hearts 0 Dundee United 2

Feb 26 2012 By Gordon Waddell

PAULO Sergio warned Hearts fans on Thursday to expect a reality check. It only took 48 hours to hit them.

The Jambos dropped like a stone from fourth to sixth as Dundee United passed them in the other direction, with dead-ball deciders from Jon Daly and Gavin Gunning.

Now, with just one point from their last 15 and his resources dwindling by the day, Sergio reckons they face an uphill struggle to even stay there.

With new striker Craig Beattie sitting unfit in the stand, the home side were toothless against a rock-solid Arabs defence who have only lost two goals in their last six.

But despite the delusion and derision from the Tynecastle stands, Sergio insisted: “We are going in the right direction with this play and this attitude. We just need goals and to be stronger at set-pieces.

“You have to understand we won’t be able to get the same results in this part of the league as we did before January.

“The squad has changed. If you want to be fair to us we lost four important players in January, came to this game without another three – Andy Webster, David Templeton and Adrian Mrowiec – and lost another two during the game in Ian Black and Marius Zaliukas.

“That’s too much for our team.

“It’s not that I’m not ambitious – I’m just being realistic. Our target since January is to finish in the top six. I’ve said it before and that’s our reality.

“It’s not what the history of Hearts deserves, it’s not what our great supporters deserve but it’s our reality at the moment.

“We just have to stay together and keep backing the team.”

He’s right about one thing – they were certainly a lot better than last week’s crushing 3-0 defeat to Motherwell.

And there’s always a question over which United would turn up, having veered between awful and awesome in the space of four days against St Mirren and Killie last week.

In the early stages, it certainly wasn’t the one that hosed the Ayrshire side 4-0 at home on Tuesday night.
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The Jambos had three great early chances to go ahead before the Arabs had even kicked a ball, Dusan Pernis saving well twice in the first three minutes from a dipping Rudi Skacel 25-yarder and a great angled drive from Scott Robinson.

And Pernis was lucky Stephen Elliott didn’t do better from a David Obua knock down, the striker getting the ball caught under his feet from six yards and blowing a dream chance straight into the Slovakian’s arms.

The keeper also brilliantly clawed out a Jamie Hammill cross-cum-shot from the right that was top corner all the way without the touch.

At that point United’s only chance had come when Sean Dillon deflected Gunning’s header goalwards from a Willo Flood corner, forcing a fantastic reaction tip from Jamie MacDonald in the Hearts net.

Every other pass from Peter Houston’s side was overhit, every touch from their widemen and forwards coming off them like a pinball.

But how often do you see it happen?

Hearts had just lost the influence of Black four minutes from the break after his second prolonged spell of treatment on a rib injury and then gifted a free-kick to the Arabs seconds later with a Hammill shove on Gary Mackay-Steven.

Barry Douglas floated the ball to the back post, Zaliukas nowhere to be seen, Daly stooping header, done.

It was simplicity itself. With 17 goals to his name this season you might see Irishman Daly coming. Stopping him though is easier said than done.

Still, Hearts did almost pull level in injury time, Elliot duping the keeper at the back post with a cute touch but his chip from the tightest of angles was headed off the line by former Jambo Robbie Neilson.

Having reshuffled once, Hearts needed another at the restart, skipper Zaliukas staying inside with Suso Santana coming on and fellow sub Ryan McGowan dropping back to partner Darren Barr in defence.

Sadly it had no effect on their flow.

If anything it got even scrappier. Both Neilson and Flood were booked for late challenges on Danny Grainger yet the Hearts full-back mysteriously escaped a yellow for an almost identical challenge on Neilson.

And Grainger was also guilty of a spurious penalty claim when he went down looking with Flood barely breathing on him.

The frustration in the stands was growing too. Hearts’ deliveries from set pieces were awful, both Grainger and Hammill culpable of spurning good situations with dead balls smashed straight into touch from the flanks.

And the derision was all too evident among the Gorgie faithful when Sergio subbed the hopeless and hapless Obua to rousing cheers midway through the half, throwing Andy Driver in.

But despite the total collapse of the game as a spectacle, the Jambos almost pulled a leveller from nowhere with 11 minutes left.

Skacel did well to steal in behind an otherwise impregnable Arabs defence and forced a breathtaking double save from Pernis before Gunning pulled off an even more miraculous block to deny a certain Elliott finish from just three yards out.

And to rub salt in the wounds, the Irish Under-21 star stormed to the other end to bury a great header high past MacDonald from Mackay-Steven’s corner.

He could have had another, an almost identical chance from a Douglas free-kick that sailed inches the other side of the post.

Sergio added: “That was the difference between the two sides today – it’s something we need to be stronger on.”

United boss Houston said: “It’s a brilliant result. We can play better, definitely – we went in 1-0 at half-time and hadn’t really done anything but we kept our shape well.”

Taken from the Daily Record