Hearts bolstered their chances of successive third-place finishes in the Scottish Premiership by thrashing a woeful Aberdeen at Tynecastle.
Goals from Michael Smith, Lawrence Shankland and Josh Ginnelly, after Graham Shinnie’s own-goal, gave the hosts a commanding half-time lead.
Cammy Devlin added a fifth in the second half and it could have been more, as a ragged Aberdeen collapsed.
It leaves Jim Goodwin’s side with just one win in their last eight games.
And it returns the pressure on the Aberdeen manager, with his side now trailing Hearts by nine points and Livingston by two, having played a game more than the latter.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Hearts
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 28Clark
- 72Hill
- 21SibbickSubstituted forKingsleyat 75′minutes
- 15RowlesBooked at 55mins
- 2SmithSubstituted forForestat 85′minutes
- 14Devlin
- 77SnodgrassSubstituted forOdaat 85′minutes
- 19Cochrane
- 9Shankland
- 18McKaySubstituted forGrantat 65′minutes
- 30GinnellySubstituted forHumphrysat 65′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Kingsley
- 7Grant
- 8Kiomourtzoglou
- 12Atkinson
- 13Stewart
- 17Forest
- 20Neilson
- 29Humphrys
- 88Oda
Aberdeen
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Lewis
- 33KennedySubstituted forRichardsonat 72′minutes
- 2McCrorie
- 4Scales
- 22Coulson
- 16Ramadani
- 6Shinnie
- 17HayesSubstituted forBesuijenat 54′minutes
- 20clarksonSubstituted forMyslovicat 61′minutes
- 11de Barros LopesBooked at 39minsSubstituted forWatkinsat 72′minutes
- 9MiovskySubstituted forDuncanat 61′minutes
Substitutes
- 8Barron
- 10Besuijen
- 14Myslovic
- 15Watkins
- 21Polvara
- 23Duncan
- 25Richardson
- 30Ritchie
- 36Bavidge
- Referees:
- William Collum
- Attendance:
- 18.497
Live Text
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Match ends, Heart of Midlothian 5, Aberdeen 0.
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Second Half ends, Heart of Midlothian 5, Aberdeen 0.
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VAR Decision: No Goal Heart of Midlothian 5-0 Aberdeen.
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GOAL OVERTURNED BY VAR: Marley Watkins (Aberdeen) scores but the goal is ruled out after a VAR review.
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Offside, Aberdeen. Liam Scales tries a through ball, but Vicente Besuijen is caught offside.
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Foul by Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian).
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Ylber Ramadani (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Jorge Grant (Heart of Midlothian).
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Ylber Ramadani (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt blocked. Jorge Grant (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from the center of the box is blocked.
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Attempt saved. Alan Forrest (Heart of Midlothian) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Yutaro Oda.
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Offside, Aberdeen. Vicente Besuijen tries a through ball, but Jayden Richardson is caught offside.
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Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Yutaro Oda replaces Robert Snodgrass.
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Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Alan Forrest replaces Michael Smith.
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Foul by Stephen Humphrys (Heart of Midlothian).
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Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Stephen Kingsley (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Marley Watkins (Aberdeen).
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Alex Cochrane (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ylber Ramadani (Aberdeen).
Player of the match
GinnellyJosh Ginnelly
Heart of Midlothian
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Team number30Player nameGinnelly
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Team number2Player nameSmith
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Team number15Player nameRowles
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Team number21Player nameSibbick
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Team number14Player nameDevlin
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Team number18Player nameMcKay
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Team number72Player nameHill
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Team number9Player nameShankland
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Team number19Player nameCochrane
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Team number3Player nameKingsley
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Team number77Player nameSnodgrass
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Team number28Player nameClark
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Team number7Player nameGrant
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Team number88Player nameOda
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Team number17Player nameForest
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Team number29Player nameHumphrys
Aberdeen
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Team number6Player nameShinnie
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Team number16Player nameRamadani
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Team number11Player nameduk
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Team number1Player nameLewis
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Team number17Player nameHayes
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Team number2Player nameMcCrorie
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Team number9Player nameMiovsky
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Team number14Player nameMyslovic
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Team number20Player nameclarkson
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Team number33Player nameKennedy
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Team number4Player nameScales
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Team number23Player nameDuncan
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Team number10Player nameBesuijen
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Team number22Player nameCoulson
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Team number15Player nameWatkins
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Team number25Player nameRichardson