At last back to Tynecastle !With Hearts having lost their last four games it was imperative that they won today to move them up from eighth in the SPL table, despite two of the defeats being in European matches. I left home around 14.05 to walk to Tynecastle and arrived around fifteen minutes later. Scanned my season ticket to enter the ground and headed up to my seat in Section R. Have a great view after moving my season ticket seat and looking forward to the match.
During the international break Hearts had made a change to the management structure. Steven Naismith, who does not hold a Pro Licence and therefore cannot manage the side in European games was appointed first team coach and Frankie McAvoy moved to be assistant first team coach. The changes were purely cosmetic although Naismith will need a Pro Licence if(when) Hearts qualify for Europe next season. Naismith made one change to the side that faced Motherwell before the international break with Kenneth Vargas replacing Alex Lowry in the left of the attacking midfield in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Fullback Alex Cochrane has broken an ankle in training and will be out for at least six weeks. However loanee Odel Offiah has recovered from an injury while training and should be back fit next week. Aberdeen manager Barry Robson made two changes to the Aberdeen side defeated by Hibs in their last SPL match. Leighton Clarkson and new signing Stefan Gartenmann., on loan fron Danish side Midfylanf, replaced Connor Barron and Angus MacDonald who both dropped to the bench.
The match started off with Aberdeen on top and Zander Clark did well to stop a shot from James McGarry. Hearts first chance came when Nate Atkinson had a shot pushed away by Kelle Roos. Hearts took the lead after fourteen minutes when in midfield Lawrence Snahkland passed to Liam Boyce. Boyce knocked the ball on to Yutaro Oda in the right. The winger ran on and cut into the penalty area. His shot across goal took a slight deflection off McGarry into the far side of the net to put Hearts into the lead The game became a bit heated thereafter with Kevin Clancy handing out yellow cards with almost every foul. Oda however was injured after thirty-two. Inutes ans limped off to be replaced by Alan Forrest. I am not sure Forrest is a Premier Lesgue player but he proved me wrong today as an attacking left winger. He almost scored minutes before halftime but his far post header was saved well by Roos.
Hearts started the second half well and had most of the possession but were unable to create many clear chances. On the hour mark Kenneth Vargas slammed a shot from outside the penalty box against the bar which bounced away to safety. I like Vargas as a player because he is not a typical winger who does not trackback. He works hard and can often be seen challenging opposition players in the edge of his own penalty area. He also has. The space and skill to take players in attacking positions and I think once he gets his first Hearts goal he will go on to be a regular scorer. Hearts went two up after sixty-four minutes. Calem Nieuwenhof who replaced Haring five minutes into the second hald sent a loa ball into the penalty area from the right. Jamie McGrath mishit his attempted clearance and Roos in the Aberdeen goal got down well to push the ball away from goal. The ball landed at Boyces feet inside the six yard box and the striker had no difficulty firing into the net for his first goal since August last year. Hearts continued to dominate the match but really created only one further chance when Kye Rowles had a shot inside the box after a corner. Hearts claimed for a penalty as an Aberdeen defender blocked the ball at the post but VAR said no.
After the matched ended I walked home happy after a convincing win and performance. The defence played exceptionally well with Rowles, who has had some unfair crititism lately back to his World Cup best. Cammy Devlin in midfield worked hard and surprisingly despite Clancy being referee was not yellow carded. The referees performance was the most disappointing part of the match. BBC Sport statistics said Hearts committed eleven fouls and Aberdeen twelve. How did Hearts have four yellow cards and Aberdeen only two. I am beginning to sound like a Celtic fan with a conspiracy theory but I cannot understand the referee decision making.I thought that there were probably only two yellow card offences in the match. Yes the referee has to call fouls but not every, or indeed most offences, are worthy of a yellow card. However Igot home smiling after an enjoyable match.
TeamsHearts: Clark, Kent, Kingsley, Haring, Shankland, Boyce, Oda,Atkinson, Devlin, Rowles, Vargas
Subs: Grant, Nieuwenhof, Forrest, Sibbick.
Aberdeen: Roos, Devlin, Shinnie, Jensen, Gartenmann, McGrath, Miovski, Clarkson, Duk, McGarry, Rubezic.
Subs: Barron, Gueye, Sokler, Duncan.
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