Hearts took a gritty three points back to Gorgie with a 2-0 win at Motherwell, adding to the pressure on a home side who have now lost their last six league games. Goals in each half from Claudio Braga and Calvin Miller secured the win for Wouter Vrancken's side on an afternoon when Storm Boelo threatened to be the star of the show.
They withstood the crazy winds in the same way they stood firm this week following the crushing defeat to Celtic last weekend and the European defeat to Trabzonspor. With a congested fixture list and a long injury list - eight players are in the Tynecastle treatment room - Vrancken's side might have had excuses for not grinding out a result at Fir Park.
Vrancken praises response
As they secured their first win outside of Edinburgh since the end of January, Vrancken was satisfied with the response from his players – and delighted to see the visiting support applaud their efforts at the end of what has been a gruelling week.
“They're a massive three points,” he said. “Considering the circumstances with ourselves and also with the wind, it was difficult to bring quality football all the time.
“It was not possible then you had moments in the game where it becomes a battle and you have to win the battle.
“When coming back from the long travel then it's scientifically not possible to recover in two days.
“But I don't like excuses. We knew the run of games would be tough but they coped well. Players were out of position but these players did everything they could. We fought together for the result and we have to keep doing it like this.
“Everyone knows the difficult situation we were in and the bounce back from the Celtic game. If we don't win then it's not positive anymore.”
Match action
Rogers Mato summed up Hearts' predicament with the full-back, who was tasked with keeping Mo Salah quiet on Thursday night, switched to the opposite flank. Hearts looked heavy-legged in the initial exchanges as they struggled to find their groove. Jordi Altena's poor back-pass to Beau Reus caught the keeper off guard. The ball bounced off his thigh and straight to the feet of Seb Palmer-Houlden who could only send his shot into the side-netting.
Emmanuel Longelo had a raking shot saved by Reus after driving forward and ghosting past Mato before the Hearts stopper eventually gathered the effort. He was back in the thick of it shortly after when he batted an effort from Jordan McGhee away at his near post. From the resultant corner, Tawanda Maswanhise skied an effort over the bar.
At the other end, Mato and Josh McPake both scuffed shots while Claudio Braga let fly with an effort that took a deflection before going out for a corner. If Hearts looked as though they had come to life, it was a warning that Motherwell failed to note. Within minutes the visitors had opened the scoring.
Braga and Miller seal the win
Braga was at the centre of it all, creating and finishing the move. He flicked the ball out to Sabah Kerjota before running untracked towards the six-yard box. As Kerjota lifted the ball back in, Braga timed his run perfectly to flick his effort into the far corner of the net, well beyond the flailing reach of Alex Paulsen.
With their tails up, Hearts went in search of more. Wilson didn't get the connection he wanted from Mato's cut-back as the visitors looked to add to their tally. Defensively, though, they remained vulnerable. At one stage, Reus passed the ball straight to Motherwell midfielder Dylan Levitt before then saving the resultant shot. Palmer-Houlden then flicked an effort over the bar as the Fir Park side looked to pull themselves back into the game.
Joe Hodge flashed an effort across the face of goal at the start of the second period as Motherwell looked to get back on level terms. It signalled a period in which they enjoyed ample pressure but could not find the breakthrough. A long ball over the top from Maswanhise intended for Palmer-Houlden got away from the forward with Reus coming out to collect.
Longelo clipped a corner off the outside of the near post but it was Hearts who should have doubled their lead. Braga was the provider as he put Kerjota through but he hesitated before pulling the trigger with the Motherwell defence able to crowd him out. Palmer-Houlden tried his luck with an effort from a fairly acute angle that drew a save from Reus.
Longelo thought he had teed up Eythor Bjorgolfsson for the leveller when he cut the ball back but the striker fluffed his lines as he sclaffed an effort towards goal, much to Longelo's frustration. Motherwell kept at it as Jardell Kanga, introduced off the bench, caused all manner of problems for Hearts on the left-hand side. He cut inside Altena to slip the ball back for Hodge. His effort was blocked with the rebound headed goalwards by Bjorgolfsson with Reus making the save.
Motherwell were architects of their own downfall as they allowed Hearts to put the game to bed in the closing stages. Stephen O'Donnell, brought into the fray from the bench three minutes earlier, failed to clear, instead passing the ball straight to Miller on the edge of the box. The Hearts substitute steadied himself before lashing an effort low into the bottom corner to ensure the points headed back to Gorgie.
