'No commitment': Ex-Hearts hero slams Mihai Popescu after Hearts lose at Dunfermline

Former Hearts winger Neil McCann has criticised defender Mihai Popescu for a “ridiculous” piece of defending which led to Dunfermline’s opener on Friday night.
Dunfermline's Dom Thomas scores to make it 1-0. Picture: SNSDunfermline's Dom Thomas scores to make it 1-0. Picture: SNS
Dunfermline's Dom Thomas scores to make it 1-0. Picture: SNS

The hosts won the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Dom Thomas and Euan Murray. Stephen Kingsley netted a late header for the visitors but it wasn’t enough for Robbie Neilson’s men, who failed to win for the first time this season.

Thomas’ opener was scored via a deflection off the Romanian defender, but McCann was less than impressed with the way he shaped his body to try and avoid a handball.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said on Sportscene’s live coverage: “Watch Popescu there. It’s ridiculous.

“When Robbie sees that back, a defender himself. He was known as ‘The Tackle’ because he’d put his body on the line. If I’m looking at Popescu there I’m thinking I need more from you.

“It’s half-hearted, there’s no commitment in it and then they succumb to that goal because of it. That gave Dunfermline even more belief.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.