8th December 2018 Hearts v Motherwell 1-0
Had not been feeling too great recently but now feeling a bit better. Illness meant I could not attend last home game v Rangers although I did watch it live on BT Sport. I also missed out going to watch Spartans last night as weather was awful. Alex went and texted me to say rain was even reaching back row of the stand and it was freezing cold at Ainslie Park.
Watched Liverpool at Bournemouth before wandering down to Tynecastle arriving just after half past two. Hearts made two changes to the side who played at Perth in mid-week.with Olly Lee and Craig Wighton dropping to the subs bench and being replaced by Marcus Godinho and Steven MacLean. However there was also a change to formation with Hearts lining up in a 5-3-2 style. Michael Smith was playing in central defence sweeping behind Christophe Berra and Clevid Dikamona with Godinho and Demetri Mitchell as wingbacks.
The game started brightly though with Mitchell looking better as a wing-back than at full-back in a back four. From one run he fired a lovely low cross into the box which was blocked by a Motherwell defender before MacLean could get touch. Motherwell were also in the game and Curtis Main had a 'goal' ruled off for pushing outside the penalty area. In the fourteenth minute Hearts went ahead when a long throw by Oliver Bozanic came back to him and he crossed into the box. Peter Haring rose to head the ball past the Motherwell keeper with the aid of a deflection of a defender.The game deteriorated after the goal and the closest either team came thereafter in the first half was was when Mark Gillespie in the Motherwell goal misjudged a cross from Godinho but covered to push the ball past his post.
If the first half was bad the second was even worse. The highlight for me was that MacLean changed his boots, dumping the green ones he had been wearing. In my opinion Hearts players should not wear green boots. Hearts could have had a second in seventy six minutes when Arnaud Djoum played in Sean Clare but he could not get his shot on target. Djoum and Haring both looked good in midfield with Haring being particularly effective in breaking up play. Djoum also benefited from moving into central midfield from his previous wide midfield beat. Motherwell were pressing for an equaliser but Bobby Zlamal in the Hearts goal had little to do as the central defence held firm. Just before full-time time substitute Lee raced forward but in keeping with the rest of the game fired his shot high, wide and not very handsome. The final whistle was greeted by a sigh of relief from the crowd as Hearts ended a seven game run without a win. Not a particularly entertaining game with little good football but it was one of these games where the result mattered more than the performance.
Walked home and settled down to watch Chelsea v Manchester City to see some decent football.
Teams
Watched Liverpool at Bournemouth before wandering down to Tynecastle arriving just after half past two. Hearts made two changes to the side who played at Perth in mid-week.with Olly Lee and Craig Wighton dropping to the subs bench and being replaced by Marcus Godinho and Steven MacLean. However there was also a change to formation with Hearts lining up in a 5-3-2 style. Michael Smith was playing in central defence sweeping behind Christophe Berra and Clevid Dikamona with Godinho and Demetri Mitchell as wingbacks.
The game started brightly though with Mitchell looking better as a wing-back than at full-back in a back four. From one run he fired a lovely low cross into the box which was blocked by a Motherwell defender before MacLean could get touch. Motherwell were also in the game and Curtis Main had a 'goal' ruled off for pushing outside the penalty area. In the fourteenth minute Hearts went ahead when a long throw by Oliver Bozanic came back to him and he crossed into the box. Peter Haring rose to head the ball past the Motherwell keeper with the aid of a deflection of a defender.The game deteriorated after the goal and the closest either team came thereafter in the first half was was when Mark Gillespie in the Motherwell goal misjudged a cross from Godinho but covered to push the ball past his post.
If the first half was bad the second was even worse. The highlight for me was that MacLean changed his boots, dumping the green ones he had been wearing. In my opinion Hearts players should not wear green boots. Hearts could have had a second in seventy six minutes when Arnaud Djoum played in Sean Clare but he could not get his shot on target. Djoum and Haring both looked good in midfield with Haring being particularly effective in breaking up play. Djoum also benefited from moving into central midfield from his previous wide midfield beat. Motherwell were pressing for an equaliser but Bobby Zlamal in the Hearts goal had little to do as the central defence held firm. Just before full-time time substitute Lee raced forward but in keeping with the rest of the game fired his shot high, wide and not very handsome. The final whistle was greeted by a sigh of relief from the crowd as Hearts ended a seven game run without a win. Not a particularly entertaining game with little good football but it was one of these games where the result mattered more than the performance.
Walked home and settled down to watch Chelsea v Manchester City to see some decent football.
Teams
Hearts: Zlamal, Smith, Haring, Berra, Bozanic, Clare, Djoum, Mitchell, MacLean, Godinho, Dikamona.
Subs: Lee
Motherwell: Gillespie, Tait, McHugh, Aldred, Main, Grimshaw, Rose, Dunne, Rodriguez-Gorrin , Johnson, Turnbull.
Subs: Bigitimana, Bowman, Scott
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