Paterson thunderbolt helps lift clinical Hearts back into second
THERE was talk prior to last night’s match about the possibility of Motherwell moving into second place in the Premiership with a win, but by the end of a spirited contest, the hosts had been firmly put in their place by a ruthless Hearts performance at Fir Park.
It is the visitors who stand alone behind Celtic at the summit of the standings. Stephen McManus deflected Sam Nicholson’s shot into his own net just before half-time, and Callum Paterson belted home an absolute peach just past the hour. Arnaud Djoum rounded things off with a late curler to put the icing on the cake for Robbie Neilson’s men, who proved just too strong and too clinical for the hosts.
“This is a tough place to come,” said a delighted Neilson. “They had the opportunity tonight to go second, so that shows the level that they’re at, and we’ve managed to get the three points to move into second place and put a bit of pressure on everyone else. It’s a good place to be at the moment.”
A vintage James McFadden free-kick late on proved scant consolation for Motherwell, however pleasurable it was to watch, and the Steelmen drop to sixth ahead of today’s fixtures.
Home captain Keith Lasley had waxed lyrical prior to the match about the magic of playing football under the Friday night lights, but the first-half highlights were few and far between.
It was Motherwell who created the first clear-cut opportunity, as a cross by Richard Tait was headed back across goal by Bowman and partially cleared by Igor Rossi. Craig Clay picked up the loose ball and his deflected shot from twelve yards looked for all the world to be heading into the net, before Scotland squad keeper Jack Hamilton reacted brilliantly to throw his right hand out and deflect clear.
Hearts had enough possession without really doing anything with it until Perry Kitchen played an incisive pass into the path of Walker who looked for a moment to be in. The winger hesitated though rather than getting a shot away, and the hosts managed to shuttle him wide.
It looked as though it would be honours even at the break, but the visitors took the lead in fortuitous circumstances on the stroke of half-time with their first shot on goal. For all that Motherwell will bemoan their luck though, they were certainly the architects of their own misfortune.
First, Moult conceded a clumsy free-kick on the right edge of his own box, and when Craig Samson missed his punch from the delivery the ball fell kindly to Lasley. The midfielder tried to pass his way out of trouble, but presented the ball to Nicholson, who shifted it onto his left foot and got a shot away that looked to be heading rather tamely wide. That was until home defender Stephen McManus took a swipe at it, only succeeding in skewing the ball agonisingly inside Samson’s right-hand post with the keeper committed in the other direction.
“We gave away a ridiculous goal,” said an exasperated Mark McGhee. “We did the same at Ibrox, trying to play out in a situation that just required someone to put their foot through the ball. If the whistle goes and we go in at half-time 0-0 we would have been quite satisfied.”
The visitors almost doubled their lead at the start of the second half, but this time the deflection on a Walker shot favoured the home side and the ball dropped wide. Motherwell thought they had pegged the scores back level soon after, when Tait’s cross was crashed off the crossbar on the half-volley by McDonald only for Moult to force over the line. The home celebrations were cut short though by the assistant referee’s flag, with McDonald adjudged to have been offside.
It was a much livelier affair now though, and Paterson ought to have done better than hook over after being set up by Walker at the end of a swift Hearts counter. Similarly, Moult might have made more of a glancing header from a Stevie Hammell free-kick that he put straight at Hamilton.
A beautiful turn by Watt then sent Hammell out for a pie, before he cut inside and was only denied what would have been a superb goal by a desperate block from Ben Heneghan. The visitors were probing for a second, and Walker should have scored as Samson dived and palmed a low cross into his path, but he fluffed his lines with the goal gaping. Undeterred, Hearts recycled the ball and when it was fed back to Paterson at the edge of the area he unleashed a rocket of a left-foot shot on the half-volley that hit the net almost before Samson had moved.
Motherwell boss McGhee threw on McFadden and Lionel Ainsworth, and McDonald nearly brought them back into it as he flashed a left-foot shot inches past the top corner.
Watt almost got the goal his stand-out performance deserved when his left-foot shot cannoned off the post, hit Samson and somehow stayed out, but from the resultant corner Djoum met a clearance sweetly to curl into the net and round off his side’s victory. “I’m hugely disappointed in the result,” said Motherwell boss McGhee, “but I’m satisfied with the performance.”
Samson; Tait, Heneghan, McManus, Hammell; Moult, Cadden (Lucas, 25’), Lasley (Ainsworth, 70’), Clay; McDonald, Bowman (McFadden, 70’), Moult
Hamilton; Paterson, Rossi, Souttar, Rherras; Walker (Muirhead, 82’), Djoum, Kitchen, Nicholson (Buaben, 80’); Sammon (Johnsen, (69’), Watt Steven McLean
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