Motherwell and Hearts shared six goals in a thriller at Tynecastle.
Motherwell played Hearts off the park for an hour and fully deserved the big lead after goals from Slattery, Maswanhise and Longelo. Hearts threw on substitutes and clawed their way back as the visitors’ legs tired. To ‘Well fans it will seem like points lost while the Edinburgh locals will be grateful for a late recovery.
With Sparrow and Said dropping out Balmer and Slattery joined the opening eleven in the light blue away strip. It did not take long for the game’s pattern to emerge.
Motherwell put on a wonderful display of controlled passing football that thrilled the travelling support. Rarely can any team have dominated with such command. The contrast in styles was clear. When Ward had possession the ball was played out from the back with, at times, short passes under pressure. Soon the ball was well forward with space for an attack. When Clark had the ball in the home half what followed was a hopeful punt up the park.
Motherwell took the lead after twenty minutes following a short corner. The ball was worked to Slattery and his shot from outside the box took a slight deflection before finding the net. Hearts reply was a shot from Kabore that tested Ward.
Hearts made a couple of changes after the interval but the Steelmen continued unaltered. Maswanhise collected wide from Just and fired across the ‘keeper to deliver a two goal lead five minutes after the restart. The home crowd made their feelings clear and some left after the third goal that arrived after the hour. O’Donnell sent the ball down the line to Just and the midfielder was through and able to pass to the unmarked Longelo for an easy tap in.
With Motherwell three up with only half an hour remaining few would have expected the revival. Milne sparked life into the crowd with a powerful shot. Motherwell responded by replacing Slattery and Stamatelopoulos with Said and Hendry. The home side had their tails up and Motherwell were unable to stem the flow. Braga was off the bench and he grabbed a late pair to level the game with ten minutes remaining.
It was a frantic closing period. Fadinger saw a powerful effort wide and Ward produced a point saving stop in added time.
It was a terrific spectacle for any neutral but there will be a frustrating journey home for the Lanarkshire side who had such command for most of the afternoon but only a single point as a reward.
Hearts 3 Motherwell 3
Attendance
Team: Ward, Balmer, McGinn, O’Donnell, Longelo, Watt, Slattery (Said 66), Fadinger, Just (Halliday 91), Maswanhise (Osong 79), Stamatelopoulos(Hendry 66)
Saturday 23 August 2025
