WAS BJORN YESTERDAY
Hearts hero Johnsen grabbed double in front of family
Brilliant Bjorn Johnsen mauled Motherwell and immediately set his sights on running Rangers ragged.
In front of his thrilled family, the American attacker bagged a goal in each half against Motherwell to help his team to a deserved first win in five games.
Jamie Walker glossed the scoreline with a third as Robbie Neilson’s men moved themselves into position to go second in the Premiership.
Victory over Rangers on Wednesday night will see them overtake the Ibrox club on goal difference and Johnsen is on a mission.
The striker was far too hot for Motherwell to handle as he took his season tally to four.
Johnsen reckons he and his teammates are moving into top gear at the perfect time.
He said: “My father, mother and little brothers were here, so I was very excited about that.
“I wanted to get on the scoresheet and although they won’t be here on Wednesday that won’t change my performance.
“The manager is being patient with me and that’s paying dividends.
“I feel it’s a perfect moment to be playing well with the Rangers game coming up.
“Hopefully, I can produce the same performance.
“Every footballer wants to play in these big games in front of a full house. It will be exciting. Edinburgh will be buzzing.
“We can go second. Rangers were nearly beaten by Partick Thistle and we were watching that game before we played. That gave us a bit of energy because they were pushing their luck.
“We’re thinking we have to keep up with them and we came out firing.
“All of us can give Rangers problems and you can see how well Jamie, for example, is doing.
“Going forward we can give any team in the league problems.”
Hearts were in the mood from the outset and deserving of the one-goal interval lead handed to them by class act Johnsen.
The first period was about Callum Paterson for a spell as the defender was forced to go off with a head gash after a clash with Motherwell marker Ben Heneghan at a set-piece.
He came straight back on after treatment to embark on a surging 50-yard run to set-up Johnsen, who took a touch before rifling over.
The next time ref Bobby Madden sent Paterson to the touchline to have the dripping blood cleaned up, the right- back reappeared to crack a long-range drive just wide.
But as the lump above his left eye grew bigger, gaffer Neilson had to take him off.
Paterson will be fine for the Rangers game and his absence made no difference as within seconds of his withdrawal Johnsen scored.
Arnaud Djoum’s peach of a through pass put him clear and the hitman calmly rounded Craig Samson to score.
Hearts might have had more before the break with Djoum twice coming close and Johnsen having a header chalked off for a tight offside call.
McGhee altered both personnel and system for the restart but Hearts had doubled their lead before the Steelmen got a foothold.
Johnsen rose majestically to meet Robbie Muirhead’s corner and his glancing header eluded Samson and sub Lionel Ainsworth on the line.
If Ainsworth wasn’t feeling bad enough, his failure to guard his post effectively was shown-up severely on two occasions subsequently.
Hearts left- back Faycal Rherras, given the same job at the other end, carried out his tasks perfectly to knock away headers from Scott McDonald and Stephen McManus.
Ainsworth’s day would get worse as
a weak free-kick was easily cleared and allowed Hearts to break upfield for their third.
Walker released dangerman Djoum and continued his run forward to collect the return pass and rif le a first-time finish low into the corner.
It was job done with Neilson taking the opportunity to give ex-Rangers kid Rory Currie a top-team debut with the match won.
John Souttar then produced a heroic late clearance off the line to deny the luckless Ainsworth as Well ended up drawing a blank.
Neilson praised his two-goal striker and joined Johnsen in looking ahead to Rangers with relish.
The boss admitted: “Bjorn is a good player but it has taken a little time to get used to Scottish football.
“But remember, he came here from Bulgaria where he hadn’t really played since January because his team there went defunct.
“He comes in and we expect him to hit the ground within ten minutes of landing, so it is important to give him time.
“I think he showed that he has quality, but he has to continue with that.
“Rangers is now a huge game for us, massive.
“It has been a while since they have come here. We have had good results previously against them at Tynecastle.
“Al l the players are already excited and looking forward to it. Crisis over!”