Aberdeen 2 Heart of Midlothian 0
Ladbrokes Premiership, Saturday 22nd December 2018 – Pittodrie
Hearts recent woeful run of results continued on Saturday when they lost 2-0 to Aberdeen in the Granite City. A goal in each half from Cosgrove was enough to secure victory for the Dons and Hearts misery was compounded when Demetri Mitchell was ordered off after receiving two yellow cards.
After last week’s humiliation at Livingston it was no surprise to learn Hearts boss Craig Levein had made five changes to the team. Goalkeeper Colin Doyle made his first appearance of the season – Bobby Zlamal literally paying the penalty for his howler in West Lothian eight days ago. But there was some much-needed good news with the first appearance of Steven Naismith since the striker limped out of the Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic at the end of October.
However, any optimism Naismith’s return may have been felt by the large travelling support evaporated inside two minutes. A cross from Lowe found the head of Cosgrove who headed past Doyle and the hosts were ahead before many fans had taken to their seats.
Things looked ominous for the visitors and Doyle had to save from McGinn before the home side had a goal disallowed after a foul by Ferguson.
Hearts thought they should have had a penalty when Naismith appeared to be fouled by Lowe in the penalty box, but referee John Beaton was having none of it.
After a disappointing first half Hearts looked livelier in the second period with Lee and Naismith linking well with the latter heading wide.
Midway through the second half Aberdeen doubled their lead. Christophe Berra was adjudged to have fouled McKenna in the penalty box. Referee Beaton awarded a spot kick, but it appeared to be of the ‘soft’ variety. Cosgrove duly stroked the ball home and it was game over.
This was confirmed when Demetri Mitchell brought down McLennan to receive his second yellow card of the afternoon and Hearts played out the rest of the game with ten men.
Overall, another disappointing performance and result for Hearts whose season appears to have come hurtling off the rails. They now play Hamilton Academical at Tynecastle on Boxing Day before heading to Easter Road next Saturday evening. After those two games comes a much-needed break for the Maroons to lick their wounds and to attempt to bounce back in the Ladbrokes Premiership at the end of January.
Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Considine, McKenna, Lowe (Campbell, 48′), Shinnie, Ferguson, McGinn, May (Gleeson, 60′), Cosgrove, McLennan (Wright, 86′).
Hearts: Doyle, M. Smith, Haring, Berra, Bozanic, Lee, Clare (Morrison, 83′), Mitchell, Naismith (McDonald, 77′), MacLean, Godinho (Brandon, 87′).
Referee: John Beaton
Attendance: 16,451
Top People: The travelling Hearts support who made another fruitless long journey north three days before Christmas. Their loyalty deserves a much better reward.
Thanks to Ian Bell for the photo.
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
