5th February 2020 Hearts v Kilmarnock 2-3

It is has a busy time for Hearts since I last saw them play against Rangers. Another new signing, Marcel Langer, a midfielder from Schalke made it three new players brought in during the transfer window. There have also been a number of departures on loan deals. Christophe Berra has moved to Dundee with Calumn Morrison (East Fife), Steven MacLean (Raith Rovers), Craig Wighton (Arbroath), Rory Currie (Linfield) and Keilby Mason (Edinburgh City) all moving on until the end of the season. I left home around 19.00 and walked down to Tynecastle, arriving at my seat at 19.15. Eric arrived and we had a long chat about Hearts players of the late 1960s/70s. Eric Carruthers, Davie Clunie, Billy McAlpine, Arthur Thomson, Drew Busby, Donald Ford and Bobby Prentice were among the names mentioned.

Hearts made two changes to the side that drew at Perth on Saturday. Langer came into the midfield to replace the ill Toby Sibbick and Lewis Moore replaced Ryatoro Meshino who dropped to the bench. Kilmarnock under new manager Alex Dyer have a good record at Tynecastle with their last defeat having been in 2016. After a shaky spell Kilmarnock have improved recently and as always will provide tough opposition for Hearts.

Hearts started the game well and Eauan Henderson came close early on. He had a run down the left then cut inside. His shot from the edge of the penalty area was however saved by Kilmarnock keeper Laurentiu Branescu as he pushed the ball away for a corner. Lewis Moore then tried a low cross from near the byeline which was deflected for a  corner of a Kilmarnock defender. From the the short corner move Craig Halkett headed Henderson's cross towards goal but Branescu again saved. Kilmarnock went ahead after twenty four minutes when the Hearts defence failed to deal with a corner. The ball was flicked on at the near post by Eamonn Brophy's header and Stuart Finlay rose unchallenged in the centre of the penalty area to head home from about twelve yards out. Hearts continued to press forward but lacked accuracy with the final pass and were unable to create any clear openings. With Hearts pressing forward Kilmarnock were able to launch attacks on the break and the Hearts defence did not look secure. In thirty eight minutes Kilmarnock went two up when a long ball from Alan Power found Chris Burke unmarked on the right about fifteen yards in from the touchline. The winger headed towards goal and I thought Joel Pereira in the Hearts hesitated before he decided to come out of his goal-line. He was stranded when Burke went outside him and chipped the ball into the far side of the net from about ten yards.

Hearts started the second half again with most of the possession. Langer had looked effective on the ball and was making simple passes to bring others into play in his role as the defensive midfield player. However things got even worse when in fifty four minutes Kilmarnock's Steven O'Donnell went on a run down the Hearts left. He passed inside to Brophy who checked and then carried the ball into the penalty area unchallenged. From just inside the box he shot past Pereira who made a weak attempting to save as he flapped one hand in the air. Hearts were now getting desperate and brought on Uche Ikpeazu, Conor Washington and Jamie Walker to replace Moore, Langer and Henderson. Captain Steven Naismith moved into midfield as he attempted to feed the strikers. At one stage he was the Hearts player closest to keeper Pereira to collect the ball as the keeper cleared. In seventy seven minutes Washington chased a head flick from Ikpeazu into the penalty area. Keeper Branescu rushed from his goal and made no attempt to clear the ball as he clattered into Washington. The referee awarded a penalty and booked the keeper. After a delay, while Washington received treatment from the physio, Sean Clare took the kick and shot low into the corner of the net to the left of the diving Branescu. Things got worse for Branescu when he threw the ball away as Clare attempted to gather it to get the game restarted. The referee had no alternative than to issue a second yellow card to Branescu and a subsequent red card. Kilmarnock were forced to take off Rory McKenzie to bring on replacement keeper Jem Koprivec. With just over ten minutes to go Hearts continued to push forward and Boyce had a good chance but shot wide at the far post. Irving had a shot saved by Koprivec before in the last minute of normal time Hearts scored a second. Walker collected the ball on the right and headed to the byeline where he sent at the ball across goal. Craig Halkett, who had moved upfront, controlled the cross and then shot past Koprivec from about ten yards. Five minutes of injury time were signalled by the referee but other than a Halkett header in the final seconds Hearts were unable to trouble the Kilmarnock defence again.

I walked home disgruntled. While the pressing game Hearts are playing is good to watch and the side are now scoring goals the defence do not seem to be aware of their responsibilities. My own view is that if Hearts are playing a pressing game the side needs to have a sweeper to act as cover when the defenders are playing a high line. I think this would be an ideal role for Michael Smith when he recovers from injury. This change would mean the loss of a winger but if full-backs Clare and, once fit again, Aaron Hickey press forward then I do not think there would be a loss in the attacking sense. I arrived home around 22.00 and was thankful that Sportscene was not on television tonight as I had no wish to see the horror show of the first seventy plus minutes of this match again.

Teams
Hearts: Pereira, White, Souttar, Clare, Naismith, Halkett, Moore, Boyce, Langer, Irving, Henderson. 
Subs: Ikpeazue, Washington, Walker.
Kilmarnock: Branescu, O'Donnell, Power, McKenzie, Dicker, Brophy, Hamalainen, Findlay, Del Fabro, Kabamba, Burke. 
Subs: Broadfoot, Kiltie, Koprivec.