Aberdeen 0 Hearts 0: Jambos dig deep as Zali errs again

SHOULD Marius Zaliukas find himself strutting around the Europa League groups with Hearts come the autumn, he ought to stop momentarily and ponder the debt owed to certain colleagues. Eggert Jonsson, Lee Wallace and Robbie Neilson, to name but three, must share a common grievance: They will be sick fed up of bailing the Lithuanian out. Particularly at Pittodrie.

Another needless red card, Zaliukas' fourth of the season and Hearts' eleventh, overshadowed a creditable point in the north east which leaves Csaba Laszlo's European ambitions firmly intact. Victory over Dundee United at Tynecastle on Saturday secures third place and a coveted spot in the Europa League qualifying rounds.

But Zaliukas will take no part due to yet another suspension. With 64 minutes played, he inexplicably jerked his leg out to the rear to kick Aberdeen forward Chris Maguire and was spotted by assistant referee Steve Pullar. His flag alerted referee Stephen Finnie who, after a brief consultation with Pullar, flashed a straight red in Zaliukas' face.

The defender had already been cautioned for a trip on Gary McDonald. An ordering off on his last visit to Pittodrie – albeit unfairly for a supposed head butt on Lee Miller – compounded others against Celtic and Falkirk this season. However, there appears little sign of lessons being learned. Hearts, having started without the suspended Christos Karipidis, rallied superbly with ten men thanks largely to the defiant attitudes of Jonsson, Wallace, Neilson and Adrian Mrowiec.

The Pole was shunted from midfield to central defence after Zaliukas departed and performed with authority in an unfamiliar role. The others had faced such adversity before, yet could only lament the recurring theme of covering for Zaliukas.

Dogged defending has been a regular feature of Hearts' game plan under Laszlo but seldom will it have been more crucial than last night. The remaining 26 minutes saw Aberdeen virtually camped on the visitors' 18-yard line yet, whenever space opened up or someone loomed large on goalkeeper Marian Kello, an outstretched leg or flailing body would block the attempt at goal.

Giving up European dreams doesn't come easy to this Hearts team, something Zaliukas would do well to remember next time the red mist starts to descend.

Laszlo explained his contrasting emotions at full-time. Pride at his players' resilience but genuine disdain for his centre-back's outright stupidity.

"I asked the referee and he told me it was violent conduct. I can't talk about the rest but definitely we will talk internally. In this direction there is a serious question for us," he admitted. "We must sit with Marius round the table. For us as a club, we try to play fair football, we cannot accept everything. We must think about the fans who come and protect us here and at Tynecastle. I cannot always be the good guy who protects his players. My players must sometimes protect themselves.

"We must sleep on this. I did not ask Marius about it, I told him it was finished and he can congratulate the team himself. We will watch the DVD and afterwards we can talk.

"I must make a compliment for the team, who showed a very good performance especially tactically. We changed tactics twice and, before Zaliukas was sent off, we controlled the game. For me, this was incredible. You have the ball and you control the game, you have the confidence."

Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, admitted he did not see the incident but was slightly perplexed by Zaliukas' record at Pittodrie: "That's the second time for him up here. He's a good player and I don't think his manager will be too happy with him. It must have been something off the ball that the assistant saw. I'm glad one of the officials saw something all night."

Accentuating the positives was at the forefront of Laszlo's mind. He knew last night's point was well earned and that it could easily have been three with a touch more ruthlessness in attack. Substitute David Templeton, making his first-team debut after Larry Kingston was withdrawn through injury on 40 minutes, forced a crucial fingertip save from Jamie Langfield in first-half stoppage time. Christian Nade also shot wide from 14 yards with only seconds left when he ought to have at least worked Langfield.

Aberdeen had struck woodwork twice before then, however. Jamie Smith hit Kello's right post and Ricky Foster the left, with Sone Aluko forcing the Slovakian to parry a goalbound shot in between.

"Aberdeen had two or three very good chances," continued Laszlo. "They pressed us but it was also possible for us to win this game. I think Christian Nade had the best chance of the game in the last minute. My opinion was not to take the striker out, to be present up front, and if Templeton maybe had more experience he could score two goals. In the first half he showed good running and good dribbling and in the second half he had a ball from David Obua."

Calderwood hoped to see his side maintain their own slender European aspirations and would have been encouraged by Andy Driver's omission from the Hearts starting 11. A calf complaint excluded the winger and Hearts initially seemed to miss his creativity. When 20-year-old Templeton replaced Kingston the visitors were injected with fresh impetus. A meandering run by Templeton past three opponents in first-half stoppage time would have produced the opener but for Langfield's fingertips. In just over five minutes he troubled Aberdeen more than any of his colleagues had during the preceding 40.

The youngster tired slightly in the second half and Smith's 78th-minute attempt flew wide after Templeton was dispossessed trying to dribble clear of his own penalty area. That he was involved in defensive duties at that stage was a consequence of Hearts' conservatism in compensating for the numerical disadvantage. Calderwood was less than complimentary about their methods, though.

"Hearts set up for a draw and, all credit to them, they got the draw. I don't think I'd like to watch every week how they got it," he said.

"I don't think we had enough pace to our game first half and we didn't give the crowd much to cheer. We had to up the pace of our game in the second half and when the lad (Zaliukas] got sent off it didn't help them. But we just never had the quality on the night to get the victory we deserved.

"But good. They defended well and got the result. We never had the breaks on the night, we had great chances to win it. It's our own fault, we should have taken the chances. The games are running out now. I don't think this is a point gained, I think it's two points lost."

STAR MAN

CSABA LASZLO doesn't fancy his central midfield attributes but EGGERT JONSSON is as reliable a defender as you will find in Scotland. His determination to stop Aberdeen scoring inspired others around him.

TOP SHOT

DAVID TEMPLETON was denied only by the fingertips of Jamie Langfield in the first half after a meandering run which took him past three opponents and into the Aberdeen penalty area.

TOP SAVE

THE POSTS of Marian Kello's goal in the second half are worthy of this award after repelling shots from Jamie Smith and Ricky Foster.

REF WATCH

STEPHEN FINNIE called Marius Zaliukas' sending-off correctly and added five minutes stoppage time at the end of the regulation 90. It is difficult, therefore, to comprehend Jimmy Calderwood's complaint that the referee ignored any time-wasting.

THE TEAMS

ABERDEEN

Langfield
Vidal
Mair
Severin
Mulgrew
Foster
Aluko
McDonald
Smith
Miller
Maguire

SUBSTITUTIONS

Pawlett 70 (Maguire)
Duff 81 (Smith)
Bossu
Stewart
Paton
Ross
Holm

FORMATION

4-1-3-2

HEARTS

Kello
Neilson
Jonsson
Zaliukas
Wallace
Mrowiec
Kingston
Stewart
Obua
Aguiar
Elliot

SUBSTITUTIONS

Templeton 40 (Kingston)
Nade 88 (Elliot)
Thomson 90 (Templeton)
Balogh
Tullberg
McGowan
Glen

FORMATION

4-4-1-1

MATCH FACTS

SHOTS ON TARGET

Aberdeen 7
Hearts 2

SHOTS OFF TARGET

Aberdeen 10
Hearts 5

CORNERS

Aberdeen 4
Hearts 4

OFFSIDE

Aberdeen 2
Hearts 1

FOULS AGAINST

Aberdeen 13
Hearts 15

BOOKED

Aberdeen: McDonald 53 (foul on Templeton), Mulgrew 61 (high on Templeton). Hearts: Zaliukas 23 (trip on McDonald), Aguiar 64 (dissent), Templeton 77 (late on Smith), Jonsson 84 (impeded Aluko)

SENT OFF:

Zaliukas 64 (kick at Maguire)

ATTENDANCE

11,588

NEXT MATCH

v Dundee Utd (h), SPL, Saturday, 3pm