Hearts winger Alexandros Kyziridis wins SPFL Goal of the Month

Hearts winger Alexandros Kyziridis has claimed his first accolade in Scotland after winning Goal of the Month from the Scottish Professional Football League. His incredible strike to open the scoring against Falkirk at Tynecastle Park on 27 September was voted the best goal across the SPFL.

The Greek joined Hearts from Slovakian club Zemplín Michalovce in June and is already a popular figure with supporters following four goals and four assists in 10 appearances. His most outstanding contribution so far came 10 days ago in a convincing 3-0 victory over newly-promoted Falkirk.

On 22 minutes, Kyziridis brought Tynecastle to life in exquisite fashion. He collected possession near the left touchline, jinked inside past the Falkirk right-back Keelan Adams and also evaded midfielder Brad Spencer. He steadied himself 25 yards from goal and dispatched a vicious right-footed shot high into the top corner of visiting goalkeeper Scott Bain’s net.

The goal set the tone for Hearts to secure three more points and remain top of the Scottish Premiership. Head coach Derek McInnes spoke afterwards about the quality Kyziridis produced on the day. “It's an unbelievable strike,” he admitted. “He scored one against Ross County in a closed-door game. I've been telling people about it and he was actually closer to the goal than that one. This one is a bit further out and he's a bit more central as well which makes it a bit more difficult to create that angle. It had to be to beat Scott Bain.

“I thought Scott Bain was really good for Falkirk. I thought he made some brilliant saves and it had to be exactly where it went, in the top corner. What a brilliant moment for Kizzy. We see that from him. The good thing is, from our point of view, he actually expects to score when he comes into that area. He's got so much confidence and self-belief which is really refreshing to see from a player. I thought he was good today. I thought he carried the fight for us. I thought he got them on their back foot but his goal was magnificent.”

Hearts beat Hibs at Tynecastle last Saturday to remain top of the league by two points from Celtic heading into the international break. They face Kilmarnock, Celtic and St Mirren before the end of the month in a difficult run of fixtures but momentum remains strong at Riccarton right now. McInnes is confident there is more to come from his squad.

“The players train with motivation, they train professionally, so I'm not looking for any more, I don't think they can give any more in terms of that,” he said. “We've got players to come back as well. We've got a few injured, we've got a few sitting in the stand today. We've got good players, so it shows you the depth, we've got Ageu who should probably be back for Kilmarnock [in two weeks], we've got Frankie Kent who will be back for Celtic, we've got Chesnokov arriving in January, so there's already a bit more beef to the squad, a bit more strength about it.

“I think we can get improvements from signings and from availability of players, but we've got to recognise that it's been a lot of tight games, and we've just got to recognise that we're going to have to keep working hard for everything we get. Everybody's so desperate for success at Hearts, but what we've got to do is recognise that there's work to be done here.

“We were a bottom-six club last season, and it's not just a flick of a switch that makes things better. You're going to have to recognise that. Can you do your job better than your opponents Monday to Friday? Can you, as well as have good players, recognise that? We're not all that unless we continue to work and try and improve.”

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