Sabah Kerjota ended his 410-day wait for a Tynecastle moment in dramatic fashion on Sunday, scoring a 96th-minute winner as Hearts beat Dundee 2-1 at home. The Albanian winger, who had been restricted to substitute appearances throughout his debut season, took one touch before unleashing an angled left-foot drive into the far corner of Owen Goodman's net.
Tynecastle erupted as manager Wouter Vrancken left his technical area in relief and joy. Kerjota celebrated by removing his shirt, earning a booking, but lapping up the limelight after nearly 14 months on the fringes in Gorgie.
A Long Wait for a First Goal in Maroon
Signed on July 22 last summer from Sambenedettese in the fourth tier of Italian football, Kerjota made his debut off the bench the next day against Dumbarton in the League Cup. That was the first of 19 appearances last season under Derek McInnes, every one as a substitute.
He had a front-row seat for most of the Jambos' title push, with those cameos mostly coming in the dying minutes. Kerjota chose not to make a fuss, understanding and even enjoying the thrill ride.
Now he is getting his reward for that patience. Under Vrancken, Kerjota has made 10 appearances this season, four from the start. Sunday might have been another afternoon starting on the bench, but after finally getting up and running in the goal stakes, he is ready to play a lead role in another dramatic tussle at the top of the Premiership.
Kerjota: 'A Great Feeling When You Score'
Asked about his emotions after his strike bulged the net, Kerjota said: "It was good! There was only one thing in my mind - it was an opportunity to score and I did it. I just wanted to celebrate, we won the game. It's a great feeling when you score, it was my first time here."
"For a winger it's everything to score and assist. So last year was a bit difficult but this year we are another team, another coach, another type of playing. When you play you always have more chances to score. If you have the minutes you can score."
"It's difficult for a winger when you don't play and you don't score. You want to score, always. I don't have anything to say about last year because we were a great team. We lost the league in the last two or three minutes. It was difficult for me but for the team it was a great year."
"We hope we do the same thing this year. We are showing that we are a good team and we try to win against every team in Scotland and hopefully in the Conference League in Europe. This year you can play more with the ball. Everyone can see it. We don't know if we are better or worse than last year. But for sure for us wingers and strikers you have more chances to score."
No Regrets Over Move from Italian Lower Leagues
Plucked from the Italian lower leagues, Kerjota was every inch the Jamestown analytics signing last summer. But at no point of his debut year did he regret making the move to Gorgie.
"No, because I came from Italy from the fourth division and being in a team that was winning every game in Scotland," he said. "But last year was a physical team with great strikers, with Kyzi (Alexandros Kyziridis) that was scoring and assisting every game. It was difficult but when you win every game you can't say anything. You just have to push every training and try to do your best when you come in."
Kerjota looks to have a new lease of life under Vrancken. Against Inverness in the Premier Sports Cup last month he had three goal involvements in the 6-2 victory. It is an expansive style of football under the Belgian that appears to bring the best out of wide players, with Calvin Miller and Josh McPake also thriving.
Asked if Hearts fans are finally going to see the real Sabah Kerjota, he said: "I hope so. For everyone, for every winger, the coach wants us to go one against one and try to assist or score. Pass the ball, try to go everywhere and find the spaces to do what the wingers have to do."
"It's good because we have defenders who know how to attack. They leave me some spaces like I do with them. It's always difficult for the other team because they don't know how we are going to play or how we are going to put the ball in. We try to change always and today we have done it."
"It's a different type of football, different players because we have a lot of new players. So we need to try to do our best with the new players. But the coach has done his best and we are trying to show what we do in training every day."
