Reds lose ground in Euro race

Aberdeen lost a late equaliser in the first half after dominating the play, but they were outplayed in the second half and went down to an Andy Driver strike. Darren Mackie had put them ahead in the 20th minute with a spectacular strike. Mulgrew released Mackie and the striker hit a sweet volley as the ball came over his shoulder for a spectacular opener. Aberdeen looked completely in control until deep in injury time when slack defending let the home side back into the match. Nade netted after an Aguiar cross was turned back across goal by Obua as the Dons defence failed to deal with the danger. Driver netted the winner in the 66th minute and despite Maguire crashing a shot off the post in injury time Aberdeen failed to take anything from the match after such a promising start.

Aberdeen threatened first when Vidal sent a pass through to Mackie, but keeper Balogh was smartly off his line to clear for a throw in. Three minutes later Aberdeen won a free kick but Mulgrew and Severin failed to find the target. Seconds later Vidal was cynically taken out by Neilson and the Hearts man was lucky to escape a caution as the Dons controlled the early stages. Hearts threatened in the 9th minute when Severin conceded a free kick, but Langfield easily gathered.

Two minutes later Foster delivered a good ball for Mackie to chase but once again Balogh was able to collect. At the other end Diamond slipped up when he allowed the ball to bounce with Nade in attendance. Fortunately Jamie Langfield saved his blushes as he came out to gather. Diamond then conceded a free kick 25 yards out as Nade continued to cause the centre back problems. Fortunately Aguiar couldn’t get the ball past the wall and the danger was averted.

A decent free kick delivery from Mulgrew in the 17th minute looked to cause the home defence some problems but once again their keeper was quick to tidy up. Aberdeen grabbed the lead in the 20th minute when Mulgrew released Mackie and the striker hit a sweet volley as the ball came over his shoulder for a spectacular opener. Hearts tried to hit back quickly and Langfield was forced into a fine save in the 23rd minute after the ball took a wicked deflection.

Kerr was caught out in the middle of the park by Aguiar, but fortunately he was unable to take advantage of the error. The Dons almost added a second in the 28th minute when Balogh was able to parry a fierce Miller shot and Diamond turned the rebound over the bar. Hearts were enjoying some sustained possession at this stage without threatening the goal of Jamie Langfield. Aberdeen won the first corner kick of the match in the 35th minute but were unable to threaten the Hearts goal. Three minutes later Langfield clutched the ball from the air as the home side looked for an equaliser.

Hearts then won their first corner of the match in the 39th minute as Miller was forced to concede. Stewart went close as he fired over from the edge of the box. The half had been littered by soft free kicks for both sides while some clear cut decisions appeared to be ignored. Langfield made another fine stop from Glen in the 44th minute and seconds later Aberdeen won another free kick that was whipped in my Mulgrew forcing Hearts to concede a corner that could well have ended up in the back of the net.

Deep in injury time the assistant, who was a yard from the incident, awarded Aberdeen a corner only for Charlie Richmond to reverse the decision from well off the pace. Matters got worse as Hearts levelled in the second minute of Injury time as Nade netted after an Aguiar cross was turned back across goal by Obua as the Dons defence failed to deal with the danger. Aberdeen ended up level after dominating most of the opening 45 minutes.

Hearts made a positive start to the second half with Jonsson heading over in the opening minute. A minute later Langfield had to gather after Nade headed the ball into space inside the Dons box. Hearts had made a positive start as Aberdeen struggled to get back on top, but Nade received the first yellow card of the game in the 50th minute for a late challenge on Diamond. Aberdeen posed their first threat of the half in the 53rd minute when Diamond latched on to the end of a Mulgrew free kick but the keeper made a comfortable save.

Langfield was back in action again a couple of minutes later as the home side continued to dominate the half. Foster was booked on the hour mark after he was crowded out when no one came to support him and he committed a foul on Nade. The Dons needed to start turning things round here as a game they were totally in control of was starting to slip from their grasp. The home side won a corner in the 61st minute but the Dons defended well before Hearts were back on top of them and winning yet another couple of corners that were eventually cleared.

The tide towards the Dons goal had turned into a tsunami and Hearts went ahead in the 67th minute as Driver netted and immediately received a caution for going off the pitch to celebrate. Hearts were awarded a very soft free kick after a good challenge from Mackie, but the Dons now looked like a completely different side since the break. Four minutes later Mulgrew was inches wide from a free kick with Balogh scrambling across his goal. Jimmy made a double change in the 76th minute as Considine and Maguire replaced Duff and Young.

Maguire had an early pot at goal but it only threatened the spectators in row Z. Wright replaced Mackie in the 79th minute as the Dons went for broke. A minute after coming on Wright should have levelled when a Foster free kick was headed on by Maguire and turned over by the striker. Another Mulgrew free kick in the 83rd minute was cleared by Nade, but the Dons kept up the pressure and a Maguire shot was turned round the post by Balogh as Wright looked to pounce. The resultant corner was claimed by the keeper as tempers started to get frayed.

Following this Dons pressure the Aberdeen threat was blunted in the closing stages as the home side regained control. Michael Stewart was shown a yellow card for time wasting but the Dons were struggling to get a sniff of the ball and Hearts won another corner in the 90th minute. Aberdeen could nave levelled in injury time when a fierce shot from Maguire crashed off the post with the keeper well beaten, but lady luck was not going to shine on the Dons and they now fall four points behid Hearts in the race for Europe..