Hearts report and player ratings v Dundee: 4/10s and 5/10s on a calamitous day at Dens Park

A horrendous first half cost Hearts dearly as they suffered a 3-1 defeat against Dundee at Dens Park. The hosts deserved enormous credit for an excellent performance, while the Edinburgh club endured a quite awful afternoon and left Tayside lamenting some particularly calamitous defending. The result propelled Dundee to the top of the Premiership on goal difference ahead of Sunday’s fixtures.

Scott Tiffoney opened the scoring but three chaotic minutes from Hearts at the end of the opening period saw that 1-0 scoreline become 3-0. Gerald Taylor scored an own goal and Luke McCowan converted a penalty to put the game well beyond an away team looking overwhelmed at that point. Central defender Frankie Kent headed home just after the hour mark to generate some slender hope of a Hearts comeback. However, this well-drilled Dundee side never truly looked likely to relinquish a three-goal lead.

Tiffoney, McCowan and Lyall Cameron dominated the game for them and Hearts could not match their energy or craft in midfield. The Tynecastle side improved after the interval, but by then the damage was done and the game out of their reach.

Dens Park was bathed in sunshine although a blustery wind impacted the quality of play at times. Hearts changed to a three-man defence for this encounter having used a back four with a degree of success against Rangers last week. Dundee normally favour a 3-5-2 set-up, however manager Tony Docherty decided to go with a 4-2-3-1 this time.

Both teams opened their Premiership campaigns with draws last weekend and were therefore seeking a first victory of the league season in front of the Premier Sports cameras. Dundee tested the Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark inside a minute when Cameron’s curling shot from 20 yards forced a one-handed save.

The hosts opened the scoring on 23 minutes through Tiffoney. Kye Rowles’ backpass to Clark was slightly short and the keeper didn’t make a good connection with the ball. His tame left-footed clearance rolled only to the feet of the Dundee captain McCowan. He instantly fed Tiffoney, who cut inside Daniel Oyegoke rather easily to slot a low finish into the net past the diving Clark.

Hearts’ response was a Lawrence Shankland shot from Kent’s header following a corner, but the Dundee goalkeeper Jon McCracken emerged to block. Dundee threatened again 10 minutes before the interval. Seb Palmer-Houlden sprinted on to Ziyad Larkeche’s loping forward ball to sting Clark’s palms with a powerful shot. Cameron arrived to meet the rebound with an acrobatic attempt which the visiting goalkeeper held.

Controversy took centre stage minutes later when the Hearts wing-back Taylor slid in with a reckless challenge on Tiffoney. Dark blue shirts ran across to confront the Costa Rican as home supporters howled for a red card with Tiffoney lying in a crumpled heap. Referee Don Robertson produced a yellow, and issued the same card to Dundee manager Tony Docherty for overzealous protests.

Hearts capitulated in first-half stoppage time as the home side trebled their 1-0 advantage. First, Simon Murray’s cross was met by Taylor, who succeeded only in prodding it past a bemused Clark and into the bottom corner of his own net with his right foot. It looked like a left-footed clearance was the obvious option at the time. Dundee weren’t finished and, after the dominant Tiffoney took McCowan’s pass to cut inside Oyegoke again inside the penalty area, he was fouled by Kent. McCowan calmly converted the resultant penalty to Clark’s right.

The locals were delirious at half-time with this game now looking well beyond a disjoined Hearts side. They were, unsurprisingly, jeered from the field by those in the away end. Steven Naismith made three changes to the visitors’ team during the break as Malachi Boateng came on to face his former team alongside Yan Dhanda and Yutaro Oda. Hearts’ 3-5-2 formation also changed to 4-2-3-1.

James Penrice’s deflected strike early in the second period looped high and forced McCracken into a useful save. Dundee had the ball in the net again as Cameron thought he had made it 4-0, but a VAR review showed handball by midfielder Mo Sylla during the build-up.

Hearts did reduce the deficit on 61 minutes when Boateng hung a cross up around the six-yard line following a free-kick and Kent charged in to head the ball down past McCracken. That briefly raised hope of a fightback. The only other moment the away fans enjoyed was when a young Jambo entered the field of play from the crowd during an injury break. He ran across to hug Shankland, then promptly ran off again before falling face-first on the track.

Hearts kept pushing during the closing stages with Oda having a couple of headers at goal as Dundee retreated. The final whistle confirmed a thoroughly deserved win for the hosts. Here are the Hearts player ratings from Dens Park: