Hearts debrief: Zander Clark the only one with pass marks, late Hearts free-kick, potential Hibs reds

A look back at Saturday’s match at Easter Road as Hearts lost 1-0 to Hibs.

Player of the match

This one goes to Zander Clark, quite easily. The goalkeeper made an excellent first-half save from Elie Youan to keep the away side level at the break. He also did well with leaving his line, showing great presence in plucking the ball from the air. Of the rest of the Hearts players, nobody played well. Kye Rowles made a number of interceptions but was poor in possession and struggled in physical battles. His centre-back partner Toby Sibbick did some things well but struggled at other points. Barrie McKay looked better than he has for most of this year but still couldn’t make an impact. Nathaniel Atkinson was lively going forward but poor defensively. The rest aren’t worth mentioning.

Defining moment

A dejected Hearts squad make their way from the Easter Road turf after losing another game in the cinch Premiership. Picture: SNS

Nisbet’s goal is the obvious answer, but it’s worth mentioning the late free-kick which saw Stephen Kingsley hit a weak shot into the wall. Hearts had opportunities to make things happen around the final third in this game but failed to find the rest ball or shot to trouble the home side consistently.

Ref watch

John Beaton seemed to let off CJ Egan-Riley with an early foul after already picking up a booking, while Paul Hanlon should’ve been flashed a second yellow for taking down Lawrence Shankland in the build up to Kingsley’s free-kick.

Benefit of hindsight

Interim boss Steven Naismith promised a number of changes but in the end this looked like a Hearts team very similar to the one which fell into the malaise which ultimately cost Robbie Neilson his job. It’s hard to say what exactly he could have done differently with the starting XI though. Stephen Humphrys perhaps could’ve got a nod from the start but frustrated when he came off the bench anyway. Of the other players on the bench there aren’t any who are in particularly good form themselves. Josh Ginnelly was a miss and maybe a return to the 3-5-2 with him partnering Shankland is needed to stop this nose-dive.

Moment you may have missed

At 1-0 down, a frustrated Shankland raged at Humphrys after attempting to take a quick throw-in and finding his strike-partner had his back turned to the ball.

Message from the editor

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