Hearts suffer again in the Granite City

Aberdeen 2 Heart of Midlothian 1

Ladbrokes Premiership, Friday 10^th May 2019
– Pittodrie

With a plethora of injuries –
the story of their season – Hearts travelled to Aberdeen more in hope than
expectation for their Ladbrokes Premiership clash on Friday evening. And so it
proved as the white-shirted Hearts players headed home with nothing to show for
their efforts after another bruising encounter at Pittodrie.

With Uche Ikpeazu the latest
to clog up the Hearts treatment room, manager Craig Levein made six changes to
the side that lost to Kilmarnock last Saturday.

Aberdeen were looking for a
win to boost their chances of taking third place in the Ladbrokes Premiership
but, if truth be told, the opening forty-five minutes at Pittodrie matched the
weather – driech. A couple of seagulls flew past on occasion and, er, that was
about it. Dons keeper Lewis was injured in an accidental collision with Hearts
Conor Shaughnessy but managed to continue after treatment.

Hearts took 38 minutes to
record a shot on target – it had been a very poor first half showing from the
visitors.

The home side took the lead
in the 54^th minute with a fine strike from Ferguson – whose father
played for Hearts three decades ago.

Against the run of play
Hearts equalised ten minutes later when Bobby Burns scored his first goal for
the club when he poked the ball home from close range.

However, the home side
grabbed a deserved winner thirteen minutes from the end with another fine strike
from Stewart.

The only plus point for
Hearts were the introduction of 16-year-old Aaron Hickey and 17-year-old Connor
Smith. Both showed some nice touches. But, yet again, it’s a long trek home for
the small band of Hearts supporters who made the journey north.

Aberdeen:
Lewis; Logan; Considine; McKenna; Lowe; Stewart; Ball; Ferguson; Shinnie;
Wilson; Cosgrove.

Hearts:
Doyle; Dikamona; Berra; Shaughnessy; Burns; Bozanic; Cochrane; Edwards; Brandon;
MacLean; Clare.

Referee:
Bobby Madden

Att: 14,371

Top man: Christophe Berra

Photo: Ian Bell