HEARTS LEARN VITAL LESSON
Neilson happy despite Lukaku’s treble
The comfort for hearts i s that t hey wil l not come up against opposition in the same class as everton in the new season.
The Gorgie side strove manfully t o match t heir millionaire visitors in this friendly at Tynecastle yesterday but, in the end, had to chalk the afternoon down as one for experience.
Full-back Callum Paterson headed hearts into the lead after eight minutes.
however, that served only to stir everton into action and a hat-trick from Belgian star Romelu Lukaku put a more realistic complexion on the match.
‘I am pleased everton put out a full-strength squad,’ said hearts head coach Robbie Neilson afterwards.
‘It’s great for our lads to realise how far they have to go to reach that level.
‘everton have players who have been capped many times by england and are worth £20million or £30m, so it was great to compete against them.
‘I am pleased with where we are. It’s a long season. I don’t expect us to be firing for a few weeks yet, but we are not far away.’
hearts now go from hosting everton to the visit of Arbroath in the League Cup on Thursday, a tie that is followed by the arrival of St Johnstone to mark their Premiership return on Sunday.
At no point this season, however, will they be met with such an array of expensive talent as they encountered yesterday.
Lukaku’s £28m price tag aside, everton are currently holding out for a £38m fee from Chelsea for centre-half John Stones, an indication of these two clubs operating on different planets.
Meanwhile, hearts had 17-year- old Sean McKirdy, a talented young prospect, anchoring their midfield and Brazilian new recruit Igor Rossi making his debut in an injury-hit line-up that was without the likes of Prince Buaben and fresh signings Juanma and Blazej Augustyn.
The gulf was apparent and widened as time wore on with the usual substitutions.
hearts were sharp out of the blocks. Wing-back Paterson has previously been pressed into an auxiliary striker in his time at hearts and his attacking prowess was in evidence as he gave the home side that early lead, running on to a Kevin Mchattie corner to head past Tim howard. Ten minutes later, though, the match was level in controversial circumstances.
hearts were furious when referee Willie Collum decided Alim Ozturk handled Gareth Barry’s shot on the line after Neil Alexander had clawed away Lukaku’s header.
Lukaku ignored the protests to calmly net from the spot.
In 35 minutes, ever to n went ahead. Ozturk dummied a ball over the top and then screamed at Alexander for not reading his risky decision- making. After McKirdy helped to temporarily clean up t he mess, Seamus Coleman cut the ball back for Lukaku to slot in. The Belgian completed his hat-trick three minutes into the second half wi t h another penalty after Mchattie had brought down Kevin Mirallas in the box.
Meanwhile, hearts are still hoping to sign Nigeria internationalist Juwon Oshaniwa, but Neilson admitted a new delay in the left-back’s visa being processed in his homeland is holding up the move. ‘We were told the visa would be processed in 15 days but that time is up now,’ said the head coach. ‘Apparently there is a backlog but we have been told it could be tomorrow.
‘We have done everything we can. We’ve been on the phone constantly with the embassy to push it through but it takes time over there.
‘We gave Juwon a programme for training, so I hope he won’t be too far off when he gets here. It’s frustrating but he is worth the wait.’