Motherwell lost to Hearts at
Tynecaste thanks to two late goals and a handful of missed chances.
This was a game that Motherwell
should not have lost. They took the lead
early in the second half. Hearts
equalised following a corner but Motherwell then spurned three great
opportunities to regain command. A VAR
induced soft penalty kick followed then a third in added time. It was a bitter blow for the Fir Park side.
Jens Berthel Askou fielded an
unchanged eleven but he did alter his layout.
Stephen O’Donnell switched to the left of the defence with Emmanuel
Longelo ahead of him. Tom Sparrow was at
right back.
The first half was an entertaining
affair as both sides showed their determination to win the game. Callum Ward gave the small travelling band a scare
or two but he produced an excellent close range stop following a corner. Motherwell looked uncertain when faced with
the need to defend a set piece delivery
into the box.
Elliot Watt and Ibrahim Said tested
Schwolow and Tawanda Maswanhise delivered a few tempting crosses but the game
was level at the break.
The opener followed a ‘Well throw-in on
the main stand side and the ball was worked to Maswanhise. He attracted the
central defenders and slipped the ball across the box to give Longelo an easy
tap in to delight the travelling support.
Hearts threatened with a run of
corners and they scored when a far post header was swept home by Braga. A long VAR check ruled out a possible offside
and the game resumed.
Then followed some wasteful and
costly attacking from Motherwell. Both
Longelo and Just had attempts fly wide of the target from good positions inside
the penalty area. With fifteen minutes
remaining Maswanhise produced a wonderful touch to turn away from his marker
inside the centre circle. He charged
forward turning defenders in circles to be presented with just the ‘keeper to
beat. He dragged his effort wide to let
Hearts off the hook.
The price paid for the inability to
capitalise on good opportunities came five minutes before the ninety. Again a corner posed a problem and when the
ruck cleared Kabore was on the ground.
VAR intervened and called the referee to the screen. He judged that Stephen Welsh had used a boot
and the penalty was awarded. Shankland
scored off the post.
A third was lost in added time to rub
salt into the Steelmen’s wound. They had
matched Hearts and bettered them in long spells yet came away with a 3-1
defeat.
Hearts 3 Motherwell 1
Attendance
Team:
Ward, O’Donnell, McGinn, Longelo (Hendry 88), Sparrow (McGhee 88), Welsh, Fadinger
(Priestman 88), Watt, Said (Nicolson 89), Just, Maswanhise
Saturday
11 April 2026
