Dundee Utd 0
Hearts 3
League (SPL)

Match Report

New signing David Fernandez remained on the bench as Gordon Chisholm kept faith with the same eleven which had secured a deserved draw in Finland. It was a frantic opening to the game and both sides could have been on the score sheet but, unfortunately for United, the visitors struck twice in the opening thirteen minutes making the task massive. First Steven Pressley headed home unchallenged from a Rudi Scacel free kick and then Roman Bednar drilled a left foot shot into the net as United failed to clear a corner. Despite being caught cold, United pressed forward in the hope of getting back into the game and both Mark Kerr and Jim McIntyre will feel disappointed they didn’t score. First Kerr found time and space in the box as the defence failed to clear but his shot was deflected wide for a corner. McIntyre then had United’s best chance of the half when he met Mark Wilson’s cross from close range, but his header crept agonisingly wide of the right hand post.

The Tangerines came close again just one minute into the second period when Hearts keeper Craig Gordon scrambled down at his right post to turn away a Barry Robson header. United thought they had got a goal back when an excellent move ended with Lee Miller turning in a Kerr pass however he did so from an offside position. With half an hour remaining Fernandez was brought on for Stevie Crawford in the hope of turning the game. The Spaniard provided some good pieces of trickery but no end product as time started to get the better of the home side. The closest United came to scoring before the end was from a David McCracken header which cleared the crossbar by the closest of margins. As time wore on, United showed signs of being affected by their midweek trip and Hearts threatened again as a result. Derek Stillie was forced to make good saves from Paul Hartley and a long-range effort from Lee Wallace but could not be blamed for Hearts’s late third. With some players hesitating as the linesman raised his flag, the Tynecastle side played on, ending with Scacel finishing a Bednar cross. Despite a delayed discussion with the linesman, referee Charlie Richmond allowed the goal much to the fury of the United players and supporters.