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Hearts Leapfrog Dons

11 November 2007

Dons fail to recover from poor start.

Aberdeen had a bad day at the office after making a horror start that saw them two goals behind after only 14 minutes. Both goals were the result of some poor defending first by Foster then by an uncharacteristic blunder by Langfield. Aberdeen looked to have thrown themselves a life line in the 38th minute when de Visscher scored his first goal for the club, but there was little improvement after the break as Hearts added two more goals to complete a miserable afternoon for the Dons.

After observing a minute’s silence it was Aberdeen who kicked off in front of a big crowd at Tynecastle. Langfield had an early touch as he claimed a throw in that Stewart was chasing down and at the other end de Visscher cut the ball back to Nicholson, but his low drive was blocked. The Aberdeen defence then made a catalogue of errors at the back to allow Driver to open the scoring in the 3rd minute with Foster chief culprit. They were given several opportunities to clear the ball but failed miserably and allowed the home side to gain the early advantage..

Maguire tried to hit back immediately but was foiled by Banks and then in the 8th minute Nade was lucky to escape punishment after he left his elbow in Lee Mair’s face. Hearts won the first corner in the 14th minute and another defensive blunder cost Aberdeen a second goal. Langfield came to collect the corner and missed the ball allowing Velicka to turn the ball into the empty net.

Another corner three minutes later caused more problems for Aberdeen as Stewart was given a free header, but fortunately the Dons escaped. The reds then won their first corner in the 18th minute and Lee Miller steered a header wide of the target. Two minutes later Hart made a shocking clearance and the Dons were lucky to escape further punishment with the defence looking all at sea. Nicholson then fired a free kick well over the bar as the Dons struggled to get into this game.

Matters got worse for Aberdeen in the 24th minute when Nicholson had to be replaced by Chris Clark after suffering a back injury. Three minutes after coming on Clark almost gave the Dons a lifeline when he crashed a shot off the bar from 20 yards out. Moments before Clark entered the fray the Tynecastle floodlights had failed and at this stage this was looking the Dons only hope of salvaging something from the match. De Visscher did well to win a corner in the 29th minute after getting no help from his team mates.

The corner came to nothing and Hearts broke with pace allowing Nade to show his skills inside the box before he drilled the ball wide. Derek Young collected a yellow card in the 34th minute after he was adjudged to have taken Nielson out of the play although the referee was very late with his whistle. Aberdeen managed to pull a goal back in the 38th minute when de Visscher collected the ball on the right, cut inside and curled a lovely shot past Banks. Two minutes later Severin powered a header towards goal but Banks had a fairly comfortable save.

Aberdeen made a better start to the second half and won a free kick wide right after four minutes, but despite the ball pinging around the Hearts box no one was able to control the ball and threaten the goal. Referee Brines was guilty of some strange decisions in the opening five minutes during a fairly scrappy spell. Two minutes later de Visscher had a good chance to send in a decent ball, but he over hit it and it was easily gathered by Banks. Aberdeen’s marking was exposed again in the 54th minute when Tall was given a free header and took full advantage as he bulleted the ball past Langfield.

A couple of wild efforts from Miller and de Visscher failed to threaten Banks before Aluko replaced Maguire in the 59th minute. A minute later de Visscher swung in a decent free kick but none of his team mates were able to turn the ball in. The Dutchman then received the softest of yellow cards as he looked to protect himself from a collision with an opposition player. Things got worse for Aberdeen in the 61st minute when Nade was given two bites of the cherry before firing past Langfield.

Scott Severin was booked in the 68th minute for a tangle with Johnsson, but how the Hearts player didn’t collect his second yellow for his part in the incident can only be explained by referee Brines. Steve Lovell replaced de Visscher in the 69th minute as the Dons tried to take something out of the game. Lovell and Young had a sniff at goal but were unable to get a shot away while Hearts always looked dangerous in the counter attack.

Langfield ensured Hearts didn’t make it five in the 85th minute with a fine save after Kingston had released Beniusis. By now Aberdeen were counting down the minutes to the full time whistle in a match they would quickly want to forget. Lovell almost grabbed a consolation in the last minute when he did well to close down Banks but the ball rebounded to a tight angle allowing Banks to get back and block the shot.

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