Hearts 1-2 Hibernian: Daryl Horgan double seals derby win for visitors
- Published
Highlights: Hearts 1-2 Hibernian
Daryl Horgan scored twice as Hibernian came from behind to beat Hearts and overtake their Edinburgh neighbours into fifth in the Scottish Premiership.
The hosts dominated the opening 25 minutes with Olly Lee's free-kick smacking off a post before he crossed for Peter Haring to head home.
Horgan quickly levelled when he slid in to convert Marc McNulty's low cross.
And the Irish winger finished off a fine team move to seal Hibs' first win at Tynecastle since 2013.
The Easter Road side remain unbeaten in the league under head coach Paul Heckingbottom and move to within three points of Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, who both play later on Saturday.
Craig Levein's Hearts, who meet Inverness Caledonian Thistle in next weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final, now trail their city rivals by two points.
Missiles mar derby
The first of the smoke bombs, bellowing maroon, was thrown even before a ball had been kicked, the opening gambit in the battle of a minority of yobs in the Hearts and Hibs support.
When the action began it was typically frenetic with the hosts dominating the opening period, Lee hitting the right post, Jake Mulraney forcing a save from Ofir Marciano and Arnaud Djoum firing one over from decent range.
Hibs had not won against Hearts at Tynecastle in 10 attempts and in those early moments they did not look like a side that was going to end that run on a drizzly day in the Scottish capital. All the more so when Hearts went ahead; yet another Hearts goal from a set-piece this season.
Lee's corner carried to Haring, who got away from the jittery Mark Milligan, to nut home emphatically.
Cue more Hearts smoke bombs from the same corner of Tynecastle as before. Obviously not happy that his own midfielder was getting the attention for scoring a very big goal in a very important match, another fan had to misbehave and get in on the act.
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Hearts were as comfortable as it is possible to be in this derby, but their feelgood was soon shattered by the Hibs equaliser.
Given the nature of the rivalry, it had to be controversial, too. McNulty did excellently down the left, skipping away before playing in a lovely cross with the outside of his right foot.
Horgan was there to put it away, but McNulty was offside. The officials did not see it, the goal stood and now the smoke bombs came on again, this time with green smoke.
At some point, a coconut was thrown. Yes, a coconut. Perhaps these people think that coins are last month's missile. Now they're moving into new territory. What next?
Two questions here. Why do these fans throw these things? And how on earth did they manage to smuggle them into the stadium? Hearts, as a club, need to have an examination of their security on matchdays.
Three fans have been arrested so far in connection with the game.
Hibs leave Hearts in shade
The injustice that Hearts folk would have felt about the goal only multiplied just before the break when Stephane Omeonga kicked John Souttar when Hearts were threatening to take the lead again. It looked like a penalty, but referee Willie Collum thought nothing of it.
Things were happening all over the place. Amid that last-minute Hearts sortie, David Gray hit the deck and took an inordinate amount of time to get back up again. The half-time whistle went and all the players left the pitch but Gray was still prone on the grass with physios around him.
Somewhat surprisingly - you might say amazingly - the Hibs captain reappeared for the second half. He took another knock and carried on, throwing some water over his head when he should really have been withdrawn. Eventually, he was, and by that time Hibs had taken the lead.
It was a pearler of a goal; intricate, accurate, pacy and ruthless. Florian Kamberi, Stevie Mallan and Horgan did wonderfully to pass their way through Hearts, the final flourish being applied by Horgan's wonderful left-foot finish, slammed low past Bobby Zlamal in the Hearts goal. His goals apart, Horgan was outstanding all day.
Paul Heckingbottom's only defeat at Hibs so far was a Scottish Cup tie against Celtic
They came agonisingly close to adding a third within two minutes when McNulty should have scored with a header. Tynecastle was an unhappy place now. Zlamal had to make a flying save from Mallan's rifled free-kick as Tynecastle reverberated to the sound of the jubilant visitors.
Hearts had one chance to silence them - and they blew it. Bobby Burns, making his first league start in the Bermuda Triangle that is the Tynecastle left-back slot, put in a cross that fell to Djoum. The midfielder had time but he did not have composure. He leaned back and blasted a golden opportunity over Marciano's crossbar.
As Hearts tried to pull it out of the fire they were vulnerable to the counter attack, which duly came in added time, McNulty scampering away with only a fine save from Zlamal putting it to bed once and for all. In the end, it did not matter.
Hearts won a corner with seconds left, brought up Zlamal, but they could not find what they were looking for. Some Hearts fans directed their fury at Craig Levein in the aftermath as their counterparts whooped it up around them.
For Heckingbottom this was his biggest win in what has been a terrific beginning to his reign as manager. He remains unbeaten in his eight league games in charge. He's won six of the eight. Without question, this one would have been sweeter than the rest.