Hearts problem is striking

THE absence of a cutting edge in attack is costing Hearts dearly. The longer they go without a goalscoring threat, the more damage is done.

Against Dundee United, two goals, three points and two league places were surrendered in the pursuit of European football as the Tynecastle club slipped to sixth in the SPL table. Yet both new signing Craig Beattie and fellow striker Gordon Smith were absent from the matchday squad, with Gary Glen an unused substitute.

Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager, stressed he was happy with his players’ performance and lamented only their aptitude for set plays. Both United goals arrived via set-pieces as first Jon Daly and then Gavin Gunning headed cross balls into the Hearts’ net with relative ease. In fact, all four strikes by the Tannadice club against Hearts this season have been headers. Sergio’s point, therefore, was certainly valid but the need for attacking impetus is just as glaring.

Beattie signed on Thursday but was not deemed fit enough for a debut, whilst Smith was once more left out of the matchday 18-man pool. In their absence, Stephen Elliott again cut an isolated figure up front. Hearts monopolised possession and fashioned some decent chances, especially in the first half, but were simply too toothless to convert them.

Once ahead, United exerted a vice-like grip on this game as their discipline and resilience kicked in. Daly headed Barry Douglas’ swirling free-kick beyond Jamie MacDonald on 41 minutes and Gunning nodded Gary Mackay-Steven’s corner into the Hearts net five minutes from time. Despite controlling play and recording nine efforts on target compared to United’s three, the hosts finished with the jeers of their own support ringing in their ears. Frustration at the striker situation was doubtless behind many of the boos.

“I don’t think the scoreline was a fair reflection,” said Sergio. “Set-pieces are part of the game and we were poor in that area. We were poor at offensive set plays and poor when defending them. Congratulations to Dundee United but all the rest was Hearts. I was right when I spoke about fatigue last week. I thought we gave a different answer on Saturday. We created four or five chances to score, even though United had all their men behind the ball in the second half because they were comfortable with the result. We had situations to score but set-pieces killed the game.

“I’m happy with the players, we were much more aggressive than last week [against Motherwell], we had all the possession and we created chances. Dundee United is not a weak team, they play good football but we did not allow them to do that. That’s a credit to us and we’re going in the right direction with this attitude. But we have to be stronger and better at set-pieces.”

Not much went right for Hearts in defence of Sergio. Already without Andy Webster through suspension and the injured David Templeton and Adrian Mrowiec, he lost Ian Black and Marius Zaliukas to injury by half-time. Some would argue the captain’s enforced withdrawal was a blessing – particularly given the ease with which Daly evaded him for the first goal – but it left Hearts with an unfamiliar central defence comprising Darren Barr and substitute Ryan McGowan. Teenager Scott Robinson took the captain’s armband for the second half and, along with McGowan, finished the match as one of Hearts’ better players.

“We are not able to play this part of the league with the same results we had before January,” explained Sergio. “The squad has changed. If you want to be fair to us, we lost four important players in January. Webster, Templeton and Mrowiec were unavailable and then Blackie and Marius were injured during the game. It’s too much for the team.

“I’m very ambitious but I’m realistic. Because of that our target at this moment is finishing in the top six. I’ve said that because that is our reality right now. It’s not what the history of Hearts deserves, it’s not what our great supporters deserve, but it’s our reality. We have to keep supporting the team and stay focused.

“Marius’ problem is with his knee, Blackie has one or two ribs maybe not in good shape. We were playing very well in the first half and then we had to change everything. What made things harder in the second half was Dundee United closing the spaces and staying behind the ball. We sill created two or three chances in the second half. Credit to the players. Sometimes we win and we don’t do too much for it, this time we did more than what the result shows.”

Rudi Skacel, Robinson, Elliott and Black all tested the Dundee United goalkeeper Dusan Pernis in the first half before Daly plundered the opener. Hearts would surely have equalised late in the game but for Gunning’s crucial intervention. Substitute Suso’s threaded pass found Skacel in behind the visiting defence, both his efforts were repelled by Pernis before Elliott followed up for what seemed a certain conversion. Then, from nowhere, Gunning appeared with a block tackle. Minutes later he was heading the decisive second goal at the opposite end, capping his imperious performance with an improptu chicken dance celebration.

“I was just having a bit of banter,” he laughed. “I did it when I scored against St Johnstone so I thought I’d do it again. It’s a great result and it was good to leapfrog Hearts. It wasn’t our best performance but we’re a lot more solid than we have been. We’ve been playing really well lately and now we’re getting our rewards.”

United are now fifth in the SPL, 11 points shy of third place Motherwell and enjoying a rich vein of form. “I’m not going to say we’ll catch Motherwell but we’ll give it a go,” added Gunning. “We want to consolidate in the top six first but we’re looking up the way rather than down. I’d love to play in Europe next season because you want to pit yourself against the top players.”

Peter Houston, the Dundee United manager, was satisfied with the work-rate of his team. “It was a brilliant result. We can play better, we didn’t pass the ball as well as we can and the players agreed with me,” he said. “It’s a massive three points for us. It was a hard-earned victory, we had to work very, very hard off the ball.

“At half-time we were 1-0 up and we hadn’t really done an awful lot in the game. I don’t think Dusan Pernis had a lot to do in the second half, although Hearts had more of the ball. I thought we defended exceptionally well and that’s another clean sheet. We’ve shut the door at the back, but we’re always a threat going forward as well.”

Taken from the Scotsman