Seven Hearts-related anomalies that highlight illogical nature of football

Oliver Bozanic has emerged as an unlikely big-game player for Hearts.

No home comforts in Edinburgh derby

Prior to Olly Lee's winner for Hearts at Easter Road 14 months ago, 14 matches and almost five years had elapsed without either Hearts or Hibs winning an Edinburgh derby away from home. During that 14-game stretch, there were eight home wins - five for Hibs; three for Hearts. Over the past two seasons, however, seven successive Edinburgh derbies have passed without a single home win. In that period, Hearts have won three times at Easter Road, with Hibs winning twice at Tynecastle.

Biggest Easter Road win on Tuesday while at lowest ebb

Hearts were bottom of the table with only one win in their previous 15 league games. Hibs were sixth in the table after winning eight of their previous 17. The Easter Road side were also the top scorers in the league outwith the Old Firm and were widely deemed to have listed a stronger starting XI than Hearts, who had lost John Souttar to long-term injury and had captain Steven Naismith on the bench. Lo and behold, Hearts romped to the most comprehensive away win the Edinburgh derby has witnessed for many years.

Rising up to wreck Rangers' league and cup hopes

Twice already this calendar year, Hearts have roused themselves in spectacular fashion to inflict significant damage on a previously-buoyant Rangers side. In late January, Steven Gerrard's team rocked up at Tynecastle seemingly with the bit between their teeth in the title race only to suffer a wholly unexpected 2-1 defeat in the league from which they have never really recovered. Then just five weeks later, in the Scottish Cup, Rangers came a cropper once more, this time losing 1-0 to Daniel Stendel's side just days after completing a hugely-impressive two-legged Europa League victory over Braga. It is worth recalling that, prior to the January fixture, Rangers were unbeaten in 12 consecutive matches against Hearts.

Four semis in a row amid 18 months of league woe

When they face Hibs at Hampden in five and half weeks, Hearts will be contesting their fourth national semi-final in the space of just 18 months. The Tynecastle side reached the last four of both the Betfred Cup and Scottish Cup last term and, after last weekend's quarter-final victory over Rangers, they have now achieved the feat for a second year running. It is the first time ever that they have reached four semi-finals in succession and, remarkably, this little piece of club history has come during a period when Hearts have endured severe difficulties in the league.

Oliver Bozanic eclipsing Glenn Whelan

When Glenn Whelan arrived at Tynecastle in August fresh from playing a notable part in Aston Villa's promotion to the English Premier League, nobody could have predicted that the Republic of Ireland internationalist would be upstaged over the course of the season by Oliver Bozanic. The Australian, who has enjoyed a relatively low-key career compared to Whelan, appeared to have fallen out of the picture at Hearts in the early months of this season after being used as a squad man in his first year at Tynecastle. No supporter would have batted an eyelid if he was allowed to move on last summer. Whelan, by contrast, arrived amid a wave of hype and was immediately installed as a regular starter under Craig Levein. The Irishman was unable to have the desired impact at Tynecastle though and was ruthlessly cut loose by Daniel Stendel two months ago. Bozanic, meanwhile, has been at the heart of all of Hearts' biggest results over the past few months - scoring in the 5-2 win over St Mirren, the 1-0 win over Rangers last weekend and the 3-1 victory at Easter Road this week, while he also contributed heavily to the league win over Rangers in January and the morale-boosting 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at the end of December.

Filling their boots against Rangers and Hibs

Rangers and Hibs are widely deemed to be among the stronger teams in the Scottish Premiership this term. Hearts have taken a highly creditable ten points from a possible 18 in their six matches against these two sides this term - four from Rangers and six from Hibs. This stat is especially remarkable when it is noted that they have collected only 12 points from a possible 66 in their 22 matches against the other nine sides in the league combined. In short, almost half of their overall points tally has come from matches against Rangers and Hibs. Indeed, they have had only one league win this term against a side other than Rangers or Hibs - that was the 5-2 home victory over St Mirren in November.

Struggling with such an expensively-assembled squad

Hearts have spent much of the past few months rock-bottom of the Scottish Premiership with one of the most expensively-assembled squads in the league. While money doesn't guarantee success, nobody could look at this Hearts squad and contest that they don't have more proven-quality players than most teams in the league. Craig Halkett was the highly-regarded captain of Livingston last season, for instance, while, if not for injury to John Souttar, there is every chance Hearts would have had five players called up by Scotland and Northern Ireland for Euro 2020 play-offs later this month. There are managers in the top six who would be delighted to have the option of leaving the likes of Naismith, Jamie Walker, Ryotaro Meshino and Uche Ikpeazu out of their starting line-up. The collective under-performance of a wide array of highly-regarded Hearts players for such a prolonged period has been something of a head-scratcher.