Heart of Midlothian travelled to the Highlands looking to sign off for the international break with another victory, but instead, Steven Naismith’s side were caught cold by Ross County on Saturday afternoon. More than 2,000 fans had made the journey north brimming with a well-earned sense of optimism, but one suspects the long trip home was an altogether more sombre affair.
Fans were perfectly entitled to feel a little deflated. Hearts had an off-day in Dingwall, pure and simple. Individual errors at the back were seized upon as County went 2-0 up, and clear-cut chances at the other end were a rarity. Between Kenneth Vargas and Alan Forrest both hitting the woodwork, Lawrence Shankland’s baffling booking for simulation after he’d been kicked and Stephen Kingsley’s disallowed goal, it just didn’t feel like Hearts’ day and even though Yutaro Oda pulled one back in the 91st minute, the damage had already been done.
There was a degree of misfortune to Saturday’s defeat, but football is a game where you make your own luck. All too often, Hearts didn’t do that in Dingwall – and they paid the price.
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Struggling to get forward
Hearts initially lined up in a 4-2-3-1 at the Global Energy Stadium, with Alex Cochrane in central midfield and Aidan Denholm ahead of him in the No.10 role. The idea was that Denholm would drift wide and run beyond Shankland, looking to stretch the County backline and maybe even burst in behind himself.
Sometimes the pass reached Denholm (who would very quickly run out of options); sometimes it didn’t. But, more often than not, it didn’t even arise in the first place. Ross County pressed with intensity during the first half, relentlessly harrying the man in possession and never giving Hearts a moment’s peace.
The result was that many an attacking move broke down before it could get going. In the two examples below, Beni Baningime has won the ball back and Hearts are looking to counter. In the first, the midfielder is simply crowded out as three County players rush to close him down and in the second, he drives down the line but is being pressed from both sides and ultimately loses the ball. In both instances, he has team-mates open if he moves the ball on quicker.
On the rare occasions when Hearts managed to get it forward and into a dangerous area, they found it difficult to find a way through the navy blue wall that met them. A consequence of Hearts’ controlled build-up play is that it often gives the opposition time to get organised at the back. So it was on Saturday. On a couple of occasions, Kingsley found himself in a promising position and swung it into the mixer, but the County backline were well-organised and gaps were few and far between. In the first example below they repel the ball easily, while the second should have been easily dealt with but instead rather fortunately sets up Toby Sibbick for a pop at goal.
Hearts weren’t playing with enough urgency in midfield, and were struggling to create as a result. And there were issues at the other end too.
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County go long
County’s plan of attack wasn’t especially sophisticated, but it didn’t have to be. It became apparent early on that Don Cowie’s side would look to hit the ball into the channels for Murray to hit at any given opportunity, and with good reason: it was working.
Hearts were certainly warned early doors. With just seven minutes on the clock, Victor Loturi picked out the energetic striker down the right once he’s drifted out to the wing.
Murray turns on the afterburners, races past Kye Rowles (who looks to have briefly lost his balance) and whips a low ball across the face of goal.
Somehow, it remains 0-0 – but Hearts can consider themselves extremely lucky.
It was a ploy that was causing problems for Hearts, so County repeatedly asked the question. Yan Dhanda often dropped deep to collect the ball and was afforded time to launch it forward as the playmaker probed for weaknesses in the visitors’ defence.
In this instance, he launches it forward to Murray, who wins the initial duel with Atkinson before making a beeline to the Hearts box. Atkinson, to his credit, recovers well to win the ball back - but it highlighted the danger that County posed on the break.
If the opening half hour or so taught us anything, it was that Hearts’ approach wasn’t working. So Naismith got to work.
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Change in shape but problems persist
Naismith soon tinkered with his team’s tactics. Kingsley and Rowles swapped positions, and the team’s shape verged on a 3-5-2 at times. “I thought we lacked a bit of urgency in our press,” Naismith explained after the game. “It was coming from a couple of their players drifting into positions that were causing us problems, so I simplified it a bit. It got us a body further forward and we pressed a bit better.”
The tweaks were having a positive effect on Hearts’ build-up play, particularly in the wide areas. Little pockets of space were opening up, and Hearts were exploiting them without taking full advantage.
There started to be the occasional sustained spell of possession in Ross County’s half too. The change in shape helped Hearts circulate the ball better, and their most prolonged spell of controlling the ball in the entire first half came within inches of breaking the deadlock. There was a slice of fortune in the way the ball broke to Vargas, but look at how many men Hearts have been able to get forward.
Hearts were getting more men forward, but this also left them more exposed at the back. County maintained their direct approach and reaped the rewards a few minutes before the break. Yes, Sibbick dawdled on the ball and was punished – but the chance only comes about in the first place because Dhanda is afforded a mystifying amount of time on the ball in midfield - Baningime lets the playmaker run away from him unopposed - to pick out Murray’s run in behind.
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Pressure but no foothold
Hearts came out for the second half and there was no doubt that the 3-5-2 was in effect, but some more ropey defending from a throw-in just a few minutes after the restart would see County double their advantage. Not long after, Dexter Lembikisa and Jorge Grant would replace Atkinson and Denholm respectively.
At this point, the home side understandably sat back. They were two goals to the good and the ball was firmly in Hearts’ court, and so they retreated backwards and dared Hearts to break them down. It gave Cowie’s side plenty of men back in defence, but also invited pressure as it allowed Hearts to build out from the back.
Look at the example below. Murray is the only County player pressing, but the ball is easily worked around him, much to his frustration. Hearts work the ball into Shankland’s feet in a dangerous position, and then the captain picks up his booking for “diving”.
It didn’t produce a shot on goal but it was much, much better from the visitors. The only problem was that that opportunity was the exception and not the rule. Usually, Hearts’ build-up play was too pedestrian and by the time they were attacking the box, County had practically their whole team back to defend their area. Below is a typical example.
Hearts were struggling to truly test George Wickens, but the momentum was with them now. If they could just find a foothold, you thought, they might just sneak a result here. But that foothold wouldn’t arrive until much too late.
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Hearts rue fine margins
The two substitutes were making an impact and could well have reduced County’s lead with half an hour left to play if not for some poor decision-making from Shankland. The move begins with a great pass from Grant out to Lembikisa. The Wolves loanee drives forward before cutting it back to Shankland, who’s been booked a couple of minutes earlier. Perhaps fuelled by a sense of injustice, the centre-forward has a pop at goal – but he simply has to slide it over to Grant here.
Hearts were enjoying a good spell at this point but they really needed to grab a goal to make the most of it. Forrest went close twice in quick succession – in the first instance his finish was blocked, and in the second he was denied by the frame of the goal – but County manage to cling on.
It looked as though Kingsley had reduced the arrears with around 20 minutes to go with a well-struck free kick from 20 yards, only for the goal to be eventually chopped off with the help of VAR for offside. It was one sucker-punch too many for Hearts, and the momentum soon evaporated. The players could be forgiven for thinking it just wasn’t their day.
Naismith introduced Yutaro Oda in a central attacking midfield role for the final 10 minutes or so, and the Japanese winger looked bright in his brief cameo. He signalled his intent the very first time he received the ball, pirouetting and darting forward at the County defence before dragging his shot at goal wide of the target.
Oda would pull one back in the 91st minute thanks to a great pass from Grant and an even better finish from the winger, but the damage had already been done. It was too little, too late – and Hearts paid the price.
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