Heart of Midlothian extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to seven points with a 3-0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice, with a brace from Pierre Kabore, and an Alexandros Kyziridis penalty.
Celtic host Falkirk on Sunday, and Rangers travel to Hibernian, where they will have the chance to cut the gap at the top.
Going into the match, the game was in doubt after torrid weather had hit Tayside all week. While the game was on, the pitch wasn’t in the best condition, meaning that it was never going to be a classic.
First Half
Dundee United had the better of the opening stages of the match, However, Hearts struck first. Landry Kabore got on the end of a Harry Milne cross to put the Jambos 1-0 up in the 11th minute.
The next action of note was in the 22nd minute when Amar Fatah was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Marc Leonard. Referee Callum Scott initially didn’t give the foul, however he was called to the monitor, and after a review, he sent off Fatah.
There was more VAR fortune for Hearts just four minutes later, Alexandros Kyziridis was fouled just inside the box, but it was given as a free kick. After another VAR review, the Jambos were awarded a penalty.
Kyziridis then stepped up and sent debutant Ashley Maynard-Brewer the wrong way with his penalty to double the away sides’ advantage.
The two-goal advantage gave Hearts confidence, and they almost made it three shortly after the second, Kabore went close after Leonard whipped in a great ball from the corner, however, he couldn’t quite guide his effort on target.
After the second goal, Jim Goodwin decided to make a sub, Neil Farrugia replaced Krisztian Keresztes in an attempt to gain more control in the match.
This didn’t work however as the away side came close again in the 40th minute, Milne forced a good save from Maynard-Brewer after his effort from outside the box.
Second Half
It was a quiet start to the second half, with no real chances early on. As expected with the extra man, Hearts were dominating the ball and controlling the tempo. But apart from a couple of bursts forward, they didn’t threaten the United goal early on in the second half. Zach Sapsford had the first real chance of the half in the 65th minute, his head got on the end of a Panutche Camara cross, but the Australian couldn’t guide the header goal bound.
Referee Callum Scott had the red card out again in the 76th minute, this time for Camara, he appeared to headbutt Leonard right in front of Scott, and the referee had no choice but to send him off, putting United down to nine men.
In the 80th minute Hearts extended their lead to 3, Kabore was found inside the box, and his effort found the back of the net despite Maynard-Brewer getting a hand to his attempt.
Towards the end of the match, Hearts made changes ahead of their match against St Mirren on Tuesday night. They welcomed Rogers Mato who made his debut after signing permanently during the week, and they welcomed back club record signing Ageu after a lengthy spell out with injury.
The full-time whistle was met with cheers from the travelling supporters who had seen their team get yet another victory on the road.
