Hearts' Unbeaten Run Ends in Pittodrie Defeat
Hearts manager Derek McInnes has expressed absolute confidence in his squad's ability to recover from their first Scottish Premiership defeat of the season. The league leaders saw their impressive unbeaten streak come to an abrupt halt at Pittodrie, falling 1-0 to a resilient Aberdeen side.
Match Analysis: Dominance Without Reward
Despite controlling large portions of the match and creating numerous opportunities, Hearts failed to break down Aberdeen's determined defence. The decisive moment arrived just before half-time when Topi Keskinen scored what proved to be the winning goal. This result means Hearts' advantage over Celtic at the summit has been trimmed to just four points, following their rival's dramatic late victory against St Mirren.
McInnes refused to criticise his players, instead focusing on the positives from their performance. 'We were always going to lose a game,' stated the former Aberdeen manager. 'We thought we'd done enough today not to lose the game. I thought we were the better team, but if you don't show the quality that we clearly lacked today, then you're not going to win at a place like Pittodrie.'
The Hearts boss highlighted his team's poise and creation of good moments, but acknowledged their failure in front of goal proved costly. He specifically pointed to lapses in transition defence and insufficient crosses into the box as areas where improvement was needed.
Injury Concerns and Managerial Milestones
Hearts faced additional challenges with the absence of their captain and top scorer, Lawrence Shankland, who missed the trip north after picking up a calf injury in training. McInnes revealed the Scotland striker would undergo a scan on Monday but expressed optimism about his recovery, noting Shankland had already shown significant improvement.
For Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin, the victory marked a special occasion in his 50th league match in charge. The win continues his team's recent resurgence after a difficult start to the campaign that had seen sections of the Aberdeen support questioning his position.
'We are a hard-working team and a team full of good characters,' said Thelin. 'We have a tough start of the season and a lot of new players. In the last six games I think it's four wins, one draw and one loss. In a difficult situation, the players show a lot of good team spirit.'
McInnes concluded with a message of resilience, emphasising his belief in the squad's character. 'Sometimes you need to find out about your team in these certain moments,' he said. 'I'm really confident with what we've got in the building. This isn't something that we think will affect us.'
