Hearts left it late against city rivals Hibs in a 1-0 victory, extending the Gorgie side’s lead at the league summit to six points at least until tomorrow.
Tomas Magnusson’s third goal of the season was all that was needed to secure victory in a cagey affair, as the Hibee’s suffer late derby heartache for the second time at Tynecastle this season following Craig Halkett’s last gasp winner back in October.
Derek McInnes’ side have ramped up the pressure on Rangers and Celtic once more, with both sides in action against Motherwell and Livingston tomorrow evening respectively.
Hibs gave their opponents a fright inside the first ten minutes with a 2 vs 1 attack. New recruit Felix Passlack done well to find space and create an opening, but his final ball to slip in Martin Boyle lacked the perfection that was desperately needed, giving Hearts time to regroup and defend.
In a game that lacked quality throughout, the best chance of the first half for Hearts fell for Islam Chesnokov just minutes before half time. The Kazakhstani attacker, making his first start since signing in January, latched onto a break of the ball inside Raphael Sallinger’s six-yard box following an attempt from Pierre Landry Kabore.
He got it all wrong, however, lifting the ball over the bar and keeping the scoreline level heading into the interval.
Hibs managed to control periods of the game better in the second period without creating anything meaningful until Nicky Cadden stepped up with just over twenty minutes of play.
Cadden, who had produced a couple dangerous balls just prior, easily beat Chesnokov inside the box at the left flank, and put a teasing ball across the deck for Martin Boyle. The Australian flung a foot at it amid pressure from the Hearts’ defence, and it sailed over from close-range.
With tension filling the air at a jam-packed Tynecastle Park, a hero stepped up with two minutes to play. Harry Milne drilled a ball into the box and Icelandic midfielder Tomas Magnusson ran onto and putted the ball with precision into the bottom left corner to take the roof of off the place.
The result puts Hearts six points ahead of nearest challengers Rangers and nine ahead of third placed Celtic, with the former facing Jens Berthel Askou’s Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow and the latter at home to bottom of the pile Livingston.
The Hibees remain fifth with one win from their last six in all competitions, as they hope Danny Rohl’s side can do them a favour and keep Motherwell from creating daylight between them in fourth.
HEARTS: Schwolow 6, Milne 7, Findlay 5, Kent 5, McEntee 5, Baningime 6 (Magnusson 76′ 5), Leonard 5, Kyziridis 5 (Mato 87′ 1), Braga 7 (McCart 90+4), Chesnokov 4 (Altuena 76′ 2), Kabore 4 (Ageu 87′ 1)
HIBERNIAN: Sallinger 5, Iredale 5, Bushiri 5, Garananga 4 (O’Hora 78′ 1), Cadden 7, Barlaser 6, Andrews 4, Passlack 5, Chaiwa 3 (McGrath 60′ 2), Scarlett 4 (Suto 60′ 3), Boyle 4 (Youan 73′ 1)
