Hearts Grab Derby Win At The Death
Heart of Midlothian secured bragging rights in the second Edinburgh derby of the Scottish Premiership season after a dramatic game at Easter Road was decided with almost the final kick of the game.
The Macklin Motors-backed side had headed into the two festive fixtures on the crest of a wave following a fine 2-0 victory at Celtic Park against the league leaders, and returned to Tynecastle seeking to maintain a top three slot against St Mirren.
Hearts grabbed the lead shortly after the half hour mark thanks to star striker Lawrence Shankland as the Scotland international maintained his recent run of good form.
After the visitors failed to clear a corner, Alex Cochrane clipped a ball to the back post where Shankland was unmarked to head in the opening goal, and he then doubled the advantage shortly after half-time with a spectacular second.
As Hearts broke forward, a ball in from the left was touched on by Aidan Denholm before Shankland flicked it into the air and fired a left foot volley into the top corner to wrap up the points.
Hearts then made the short trip to city rivals Hibernian seeking to make it three wins on the bounce – with a first away league win in the derby since 2020 being the ultimate goal.
Shankland had the chance to give Hearts the lead when Rocky Bushiri was adjudged to have handled in the box following a VAR check, but the top scorer was unable to open the scoring when his effort clipped the left hand post and went out for a corner.
Hibs were then awarded a spot kick when Kyle Rowles blocked a shot from Dylan Vente with his arm, but Zander Clark was able to push Martin Boyle’s well-struck effort onto the post to keep the game goalless.
It looked like the points would be shared for the second time this season but three minutes into stoppage time, Shankland collected a long ball and beat Bushiri before cutting in from the right hand side to curl a spectacular winner into the top corner.
It means Hearts retain third spot in the table ahead of the visit of Ross County in the final game of 2023.