Hearts 1-1 Hibernian: Lawrence Shankland penalty denies wasteful visitors rare Tynecastle win
- Published
Shankland celebrates Edinburgh derby goal with pie
Lawrence Shankland's 26th goal of the season denied wasteful Hibernian a first Scottish Premiership win at Tynecastle since 2019 as Hearts came from behind to earn a point in a gripping Edinburgh derby.
The vibrant visitors more than merited their opening goal when Emiliano Marcondes smashed in on the rebound after Martin Boyle's dinked finish was cleared off the line.
But Shankland levelled a feisty encounter in first-half stoppage time, drilling in from the spot after Will Fish was judged to have tripped Kenneth Vargas in the box.
An on-field review was recommended for referee Kevin Clancy, who stuck with his decision to award a penalty as he deemed the Hibs defender has made sufficient contact with the Hearts forward.
That spot kick was one of two shots on target from the hosts, who were fortunate to come away with a point as their city rivals passed up several clear-cut opportunities.
On Clancy's decision to award Hearts a penalty, Hibs boss Nick Montgomery said: "I asked [the referee] if they called him over because there was something they needed him to look at and didn't want him to make an error.
"I feel sorry for the fans and the players. We had an apology last week, maybe we'll get another one again. What it won't do is give us another two points back."
After a five-goal thrashing at Ibrox on Saturday, a sell-out home crowd demanded a response under the lights at Tynecastle.
But aside from Shankland's spot kick, and a delightful dink from the Hearts striker, there was little end product from Steven Naismith's side, who increase their cushion in third spot to 12 points.
It was instead Montgomery's men, who stay seventh but move a point closer to sixth-placed Dundee, who had the superior chances.
Minutes after Shankland's equaliser, Zander Clark denied the impressive Marcondes a second at close range, before Dylan Vente had a back-post effort and a fancy flick cleared off the line.
That was followed by Myziane Maolida somehow diverting a header wide, with Jordan Obita smashing the outside of the near post late on.
Player of the match - Emiliano Marcondes (Hibs)
Although his influence waned after the break, the on-loan Bournemouth midfielder was a cut above in the first half
Signs of life at Hibs but points must follow - analysis
The Hibs fans will want more points on the board, and a 21-point gap between their side and rivals Hearts looks ugly, but they could have fun watching this team.
The manager still has a lot of convincing to do, but January recruits Maolida and Marcondes, coupled with a change of system, have injected life into the Leith side's season.
A home game against struggling Ross County gives Montgomery's men a chance to push into the top half, then they can look to have a real go at Rangers in their Scottish Cup quarter-final tie.
It is difficult to be too critical of a Hearts team who look home and dry in third, but Naismith will have no issue with that.
The Hearts boss will not want this season to fizzle out, especially with a last-eight tie of their own to look forward to at Morton, and he will be determined to not give any encouragement to the teams behind.
But things do not get much easier for the Tynecastle club as Celtic travel to Gorgie on Sunday.
What they said
Hearts head coach Steven Naismith: "It could've gone either way, both sides had chances. Like the last derby, that final moment of quality wasn't there. That's the next step for us, in the heat of the battle, to have that calmness.
"Both teams were guilty of [slack passing]. At times we made the wrong choices and that made the game end-to-end. It was important we showed the weekend's result was a blip and something we could come back from."
Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery: "I'm disappointed for our fans and the players. We deserved three points tonight, we didn't get them. We had three or four cleared off the line, one or two we should've scored.
"We had enough chances to win two games. I thought we were outstanding, we played some great football."
What's next?
Both sides return to league action at the weekend, as Hibs host Ross County on Saturday (15:00 GMT) before Hearts welcome Celtic the following day (12:00).