Claudio Braga scored the only goal of the game as Hearts moved seven points clear at the top of the Premiership with a 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Tynecastle.
The league leaders knew they had the chance to widen the gap at the top, for 24 hours at least, with Rangers and Celtic meeting at Ibrox on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, and they did not miss the opportunity, roared on by a full house at a rocking Tynecastle.
Braga’s strike on the half-hour mark was his 15th of the season and could prove to be one of the most vital of the campaign, meaning Derek McInnes and his side can sit back and watch Sunday’s Old Firm encounter with interest.
Sir Alex Ferguson was in attendance at Tynecastle to watch Hearts beat Aberdeen
For Aberdeen, with legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson watching on from the stands, it is another disappointing result in what has been a stuttering season, all but ending their hopes of a top six finish.
Hearts dominated the early stages, with Braga forcing Dimitar Mitov into action after 10 minutes before the Portuguese sent a header wide shortly after. At the other end, Toyosi Olusanya was a handful for the Hearts backline and provided a good outball for the visitors.
Pierre Landry Kabore should have had the home side in front after 21 minutes, however, after latching on to a ball over the top but he could not direct his lob over the onrushing Mitov on target.
Hearts’ Pierre Landry Kabore and Aberdeen’s Gavin Molloy in action
Olusanya could have edged the visitors in front shortly after when he got on the end of Topi Keskinen’s low cross into the box but he fired his first-time effort well over.
Hearts did take the lead just before the half-hour mark, however, with Kabore doing really well to muscle his way down the right-hand side, avoiding the sliding challenge of Liam Morrison, before calmly picking out Braga who slotted his effort into the net from 10 yards.
The hosts were in no mood to hang around after the break with Kabore stinging the palms of Mitov before the goalkeeper was on hand to deny Braga at the back post after the Portuguese connected with Kabore’s flick on.
Hearts Claudio Braga celebrates scoring to make it 1-0 against Aberdeen
The visitors struggled to carve out clear goalscoring opportunities in a stuffy second half, Kevin Nesbit’s wayward first-time volley the best they could muster as they ended the game having failed to have a shot on target.
Aberdeen did try to force Hearts back in the closing stages as they sought an equaliser but the hosts were never really in any danger as they held on for a vital three points.
McInnes: Hearts good value for the win
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes on Sky Sports:
“I was just really pleased with the performance. I thought the application, the approach to the game was spot on. Obviously, when you play the way we did and try to go all in it does leave you with some scary moments in transitions with the pace of [Topi] Keskinen and [Toyosi] Olusanya at times, there were a couple of wee moments in the first half but I thought the performance in terms of shots on target, pressure and set plays, it’s the most we have put crosses in in recent weeks.
Derek McInnes said Hearts deserved their win over Aberdeen
“I thought the output from that side was really good and you look at the stats, you think you’d get more than one goal so we are disappointed from that sense but I don’t think Alex [Schwolow] has had a save to make. While it doesn’t always feel totally comfortable for everyone in the stadium and ourselves, I think at 1-0 we were actually good value for our win and it was a good three points but just as importantly the performance was good and it is the kind of performance we are going to need at Tynecastle.”
On watching the Old Firm game on Sunday:
“We have just got to try and win our games whenever we play. We don’t want to be giving anyone too much encouragement, we just want to concentrate on ourselves and I just think we need to really focus on that and not look too much at tomorrow. Obviously we will watch it and we’ll look forward to watching it on the back of winning, that’s always the way. But with nine games to go there are a lot of points to play for. It’s just under a quarter of the season so a lot can still happen. No one is getting carried away, we enjoyed the win today, I thought it was a win we deserved and from that point of view we just move on to the next one now.”
Leven: Aberdeen should have had a penalty
Peter Leven says Aberdeen should have had a penalty against Hearts
Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven on Sky Sports:
“We’ve just seen the Stuart Armstrong [incident]. We got a man sent off last week against Dundee, because he was across the player and he took him out, so I don’t know why that’s not a penalty. Extra frustrating on a day that there’s maybe not loads in it, you’re looking for that wee cutting edge or that break, however it may come.
“We lacked a bit of quality at times, but listen, I thought it was better second half, but it’s still not good enough to come here and not compete in the first half. It’s the little things that are not going for us right now. We’ve got another big game on Wednesday, but again, it’s the little decisions that are costing us right now. For me, it’s a stonewall penalty.
“We need to keep going, as I say, we’ve got a game on Wednesday, but again, we’ll go again tomorrow, but we need to start picking up points.”
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