Hearts 3-2 Motherwell: Hotly-disputed red card fuels Jambos' resilience as Andy Halliday rises to the fore

Resilience is a quality Hearts have needed in spadeloads recently and it earned them a monumental victory over Motherwell.

Down to ten men before half-time following Jorge Grant’s red card for a challenge on Callum Slattery, a sense of injustice seemed to inspire the Tynecastle players. None more so than Andy Halliday, who scored twice alongside Lawrence Shankland’s decisive penalty.

Louis Moult and Blair Spittal scored to eradicate Hearts’ 2-0 advantage but the late spot-kick proved crucial. After mounting injury problems and a run of poor results, the Edinburgh club now climb to fourth in the Premiership after a colossal, controversial and dramatic day.

Both clubs wanted victory in this encounter to propel them into the top six and within touching distance of third-placed Aberdeen. Motherwell’s win at Tannadice last weekend ended a run of four straight defeats, while Hearts lost to Istanbul Basaksehir in midweek after beating Ross County last Sunday.

Andy Halliday scored two goals for Hearts against Motherwell.

Hearts would have taken a 12th-minute lead but for the Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly beating away Shankland’s attempted lob. The visitors lost right-back Paul McGinn to a knee injury before Kelly saved again from Halliday. Their response was a tidy interchange between Spittal and Kevin van Veen and a shot narrowly wide of the Hearts goal from the Dutchman.

Kelly saved another attempt from Cammy Devlin after substitute Stephen O’Donnell’s rasping backpass to the keeper caused momentary chaos in the Motherwell defence. Hearts were reduced to ten men on 39 minutes when Grant slid in on Slattery and was dismissed by referee Kevin Clancy for serious foul play. He connected with the ball first but the decision stood even after a VAR check, leaving home players and coaches incensed.

If the Hearts were expected to toil with a numerical disadvantage, they responded in the opposite fashion. Halliday rose to connect with Snodgrass’ 45th-minute corner and headed beautifully beyond Kelly into the corner of the net. That secured a 1-0 interval lead for Robbie Neilson’s team and the manager waited for Clancy on the touchline as the teams left the field – presumably seeking an explanation for Grant’s red card.

Within seconds of the restart, Halliday put Hearts 2-0 ahead. Barrie McKay’s ball deflected into his path for a first-time curling shot which veered away from Kelly’s dive into the bottom corner. Motherwell responded through Moult’s penalty on the hour mark after Gordon was judged to have fouled the striker. Again Hearts protested but VAR agreed with Clancy’s award. At 2-1, the North Lanarskhire side were pushing for an equaliser. An offside flag denied them one after Van Veen spectacularly volleyed home, but not for long.

Andy Halliday heads home his first goal just before half time. Picture: Mark Scates / SNS

Stuart McKinstry’s right-sided cross invited Spittal to slide in and level the scoreline with 11 minutes remaining. However, Hearts weren’t finished. The outstanding Alex Cochrane surged forward to cross, the ball hit Sondre Johansen’s arm, and Shankland confidently dispatched the resultant penalty into the net.

The afternoon finished with Tynecastle raucous. Everyone inside the stadium knew the magnitude of this result.

Hearts (4-1-4-1): Gordon; M Smith, Sibbick, Cochrane, Halliday (Atkinson 77); Devlin; Ginnelly (Neilson 77), Grant, Snodgrass, McKay (Rowles 90); Shankland.

Motherwell (4-2-3-1): Kelly; McGinn (O’Donnell 20), Johansen, Lamie, Penney; Slattery, Goss; Shields (Moult 55), Spittal, McKinstry; Van Veen.

Referee: Kevin Clancy.

Attendance: 18,806.