SHORT BACK & STRIDES
Jambos go back to basics and give struggling Killie a scalping
Christophe Berra insists Hearts went back to basics to claim Kilmarnock’s scalp.
But the Tynecastle skipper also believes a trip to the barber is on order for red card goal hero Esmael Goncalves who reacted furiously at having his hair pulled by Kirk Broadfoot.
After racking only their first away win in nine games, the Jambos were relieved to remove some of the clouds hovering over their managerless club.
And Berra admits Goncalves should have shown more restraint when he felt a tug on his locks.
He said: “I didn’t see the incident but something seems to have happened to make Isma react.
“He’s very disappointed. You have to keep the head but if someone pulls your hair, it’s sore and things happen in the heat of the moment.
“It’s hard not to react but he has. Esma is a fiery character and he’s got heart.
“We’ll get round him and help him be ready to come back in.
“If he did pull his hair it’s quite naughty but it’s hard not to react. I’m sure the manager and the club will support him and he’ll need to learn from it.
“People will target him if he doesn’t. He might have to shave his hair off!”
The Portuguese striker was dismissed along with Broadfoot after taking exception to the incident which threatened to
overshadow a
rare success for the Edinburgh club on their travels.
And Ian Cathro’s old tactic board has clearly been binned as the Gorgie side went back to 4- 4-2 basics.
Berra added: “Football is about basics and if you do them well, then you can look to move on. If we’d gone 2-0 up we might have played more football.
“Training has been hightempo, it’s the hardest I’ve worked for ages. We have a good team on paper and if we do the dirty jobs first then we can show our quality.
“This is a starting block today. We won’t be judged by games against Celtic or Rangers. These are the sort of games you have win if you want to challenge for the top four.”
There was no recall for Jamie Walker into the starting line-up for Hearts after missing the last two games due to a belief transfer speculation linking him with a move to Rangers had impacted on his form.
John Souttar made his first league start since rupturing his Achilles back in January.
It only required six minutes for the Killie defence to display it’s frailty and it was simplicity itself as Hearts edged ahead.
Michael Smith slid a pass into the feet of Goncalves who rolled Gordon Greer far too easily at the edge of the box before firing a low have expected the former Scotland defender to have bolstered their defence and not have been outfoxed like a schoolboy.
It could have been worse two minutes later as Don Cowie’s corner from the left was allowed to f loat into the six yard box before Greer cleared from under his own crossbar.
Shellshocked they may have been but Lee McCulloch’s men soon managed a serious assault of their on on the Jambos goal but Rory McKenzie’s 18-yard volley lacked direction before being deflected out for a corner.
Another major scare came Killie’s way in the 20th minute when their defence again parted to allow Goncalves to race clear on MacDonald, only for the keeper to read it brilliantly and make the interception.
Killie were disjointed and disorganised all over the pitch as the Tynecastle threatened to put the game to bed before half time as they dominated possession and looked shaper in both passing and quickness of thought.
Kris Boyd was treated for a knock to the head before the break which also required a change from his blood- stained shirt and his replacement didn’t have a name or number – it summed up the anonymous nature of his side’s first half.
After the break Jordan Jones came on for the ineffective Chris Burke as McCulloch looked to inject some attacking spark.
But the traffic continued to flow in the opposite direction as Goncalves started where he left off as chief tormentor of the Ayrshire side’s defence.
Arnaud Djoum clattered Adam Frizzell in 54 minutes to go into the book and he was followed by Lee Erwin who caught Berra with an elbow which appeared unintentional.
Despite their superiority, Hearts somehow managed to avoid conceding on the hour mark when Dom Thomas picked out McKenzie only for his net bound shot to rebound off Souttar and allowed keeper Jack Hamilton to make the block.
It was a passage of play which showed Killie had found the stomach for the fight. But they are never far away from a defensive calamity and it was Broadfoot’s turn to gift Goncalves a free shot at MacDonald but this time his effort was superbly saved. Broadfoot’s next involvement was an ugly tussle as he appeared to pull Goncalves by the hair as the pair rolled about the deck. Ref Stephen Finnie consulted with his far side assistant and brandished straight red cards to the duo with the Hearts man walking for having lashed out. The incident ended Killie’s momentum as Hearts pressed for a second but finished with a hard-earned, narrow win.