Saturday felt like a missed opportunity for Heart of Midlothian. Steven Naismith’s men went into their Premiership meeting with fourth-placed Kilmarnock knowing a win would leave their rivals for third with a mountain that would be near-impossible to climb, and hoped to just about put the issue to bed amid the glorious sunshine in Gorgie.
The early lead suggested this was going to be the party that fans were preparing for, but the game soon petered out. That celebratory atmosphere was punctured by a superb equaliser midway through the second half and although Hearts huffed and puffed, they were unable to restore their lead as the game finished 1-1.
So, what was it about Hearts’ set-up that led to the strong start? How did they lose their early momentum, and is there anything that could have been done to turn the game back in Hearts’ favour? Let’s take a look.
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Strong start
Hearts have made a habit of starting a little sluggishly before rallying during the second half this season, and a common refrain – from supporters and Steven Naismith alike – is that the team need to be on it from the first whistle. Too many times Hearts have been slow out of the traps, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.
The roles, for once, were reversed. The opening 15 minutes or so was Hearts’ most productive attacking spell of the game, and it was Kilmarnock who were decidedly on the ropes early on at Tynecastle. With Hearts lining up in a 4-2-3-1 shape and Killie opting for 4-4-2, the visitors’ attack tried to go man-for-man when pressing the Hearts backline during the build-up phase.
It might have worked too, if not for Lawrence Shankland. The striker would often drop deep and wide when Hearts were building out, effectively becoming a free man and opening up a new passing lane and allowing his side to play around the Killie press. Below is a typical example.
Once the Killie press was beaten, Derek McInnes’ men found themselves in big trouble. Their back four was narrow, and there was space to exploit on the flanks if Hearts could work the ball into the wide areas.
That’s exactly what happened for the opening goal. Hearts win a throw-in just inside the Killie half, and Jorge Grant plays it early to Macaulay Tait. The Kilmarnock midfield all step forward, leaving a huge gap in between the midfield and defensive lines. Out of frame, Alan Forrest is occupying the right-back, providing Alex Cochrane with acres to space to advance into once Tait plays him through.
Cochrane makes it all the way to the edge of the area, and curls a ball in towards the unmarked Shankland at the far post. Shankland’s first touch takes him away from goal, but Kilmarnock have committed a terrible error: the back post is completely unmarked. The Hearts skipper makes sure his cross has plenty of height and dip, and plays it into an area where Kenneth Vargas can hardly miss.
A couple of minutes pass and Kilmarnock haven’t learned their lesson. Hearts are building out and Shankland does his usual maneuver by dropping into midfield to receive the ball and beat the initial press. He then plays it down the line to Alan Forrest and darts forward to support.
The ball is nudged into Shankland’s path and he drives forward with it, making sure to stay wide as this is where the space is. Again, Killie’s narrow back four are too reluctant to leave gaps elsewhere and so they don’t apply enough pressure out wide.
Shankland eventually draws two men towards him before releasing it to Jorge Grant, who’s taken up a great position. The Englishman should do better, but it’s a great chance that the team have fashioned.
Grant had went close a few minutes before Vargas’ opener with a well-executed counter-attack from a Killie corner (more on that later) and it seemed as though Hearts wouldn’t have too much difficulty creating chances against McInnes’ men. But they soon started drying up.
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Killie recover
Hearts undoubtedly had the early momentum in the game but it wasn’t long before Killie got their act together out of possession. When Hearts were building out, Liam Donnelly was now pushing further up to aid the forward line’s pressing efforts, while the front four were aggressive. Hearts had less time on the ball and fewer short passing options, and were forced into long balls they didn’t want to play.
Here's a typical example where Clark has taken a short goal kick. The ball is quickly worked out to Cochrane, who is very deep and has an opponent bearing down on him. He drills a ball into the channel but Killie’s right-back, anticipating the ploy, has also pushed up and Hearts can’t get out.
It wasn’t much better when Clark went long himself, either. Shankland rarely won the first ball and when he didn’t, the Killie defence were able to easily sweep up.
Hearts were now struggling to build out from goal kicks and the like, and they were also running into some difficulty during sustained periods of possession when trying to break Killie down. The visitors would sit rigidly within their shape, giving the man in possession nowhere to go but backward, and then spring forward and push Hearts further back still.
Take a look at the example below. Kent and Stephen Kingsley are the last men back, and Hearts are well inside the opposition half. The two centre-halves are reluctant to take a risk and lose the ball, and so they play it back and forth as they slowly retreat.
The ball is played back to Kent, and the press has been activated. Killie charge forward in the hope that it’s played to Dexter Lembikisa, so Kent instead plays it back to Kingsley. The ball is worked out wide before coming back to Kingsley, who plays it to Kent, who plays it forward to Tait - and the press is again triggered.
Tait plays it to Kent, Kent plays it to Lembikisa, and Lembikisa goes all the way back to Clark, who hits it long and Killie eventually win the throw.
Given the position Hearts were in at the start of the move, it’s a less-than-ideal outcome. And it happened time and again.
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Killie constrict space
McInnes’ men were working hard, pressing the man in possession in packs and ensuring they were given no time on the ball, and the game was played in small, tight areas as a consequence. On the rare opportunities where Hearts worked the ball into a promising position, they quickly found themselves crowded out.
Shankland, naturally, was the focus of their efforts and struggled to find space. Below is a typical example where he has a sight of goal – look at how much space he is in when the ball is played to him, and notice how quickly he is surrounded by four red jerseys.
Even when the ball breaks to Shankland and he gets another bite at the cherry, he still has to squeeze the ball through a forest of legs. He does well to hit the target on this occasion, but his shot lacked sufficient power to truly test Will Dennis in goal.
It was a similar story in the second half. All too often, the pitch became congested and Hearts had nowhere to go. Take a look at the example below, which is fairly typical. Cochrane has the ball in a decent position and if he plays it early to Tait, then the teenager has enough space to get a shot away. Instead, the ball is played in towards Grant’s feet with his back to goal.
He keeps a hold of the ball before working it back to Cochrane. He’s in a similar position to before, but there is now one fewer team-mate to aim for and the Killie defence are better organised.
Some intricate one- and two-touch passing play follows, but there simply isn’t enough space (seven Killie players are squeezed into that small area) and Hearts are again forced all the way back.
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Rusty Kent
Frankie Kent has been one of Naismith’s most consistent and reliable performers this season, and supporters will have been pleased to see the Englishman’s name on the team sheet against Kilmarnock after he missed the previous three games with a knee injury. This was just the fixture, the thinking went, that required a centre-half of his stature.
Kent fared fairly well on the whole, but there were also one or two signs of some understandable rustiness. An uncharacteristically late challenge on Kyle Vassell in the first half led to a fourth booking of the season, and at one stage a careless pass in defence gifted Kilmarnock a corner. And if there is one team you don’t want to give away set-pieces to, it is Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock.
There were occasions where Kent’s positioning could have been better, and Hearts were nearly punished for it on the brink of half-time. Tait loses the ball in a bad area and Killie spring forward on the counter. Danny Armstrong is in acres of space out wide, and so the ball is worked out to him.
Armstong makes a beeline for the box, dropping the shoulder and getting ready to swing it in. Watkins is lurking at the far post and the striker is Kent’s man.
In a similar incident to Hearts’ goal, Armstrong spots that the back post is free. The picture below is taken at the moment Armstrong crosses the ball, and Kent has taken a forward step at just the wrong time. Watkins meets it well – and only a superb stop from Clark keeps it 1-0.
Watkins would eventually draw his side level in spectacular style, and the goal was a litany of errors from Hearts’ perspective. It all starts with a Kilmarnock goal kick. Usually they would knock it around the back, attempting to draw the press before shelling it long. On this occasion, Beni Baningime gets sucked in. He commits to the press and goes haring after it, but can’t get there before it’s hit long.
Kent sweeps up the loose ball unopposed, but Baningime’s absence has left a gaping hole in front of the defence. Kent heads it right into the danger area, and Vassell advances menacingly before playing it to Watkins.
Watkins turns back on himself, beating Lembikisa, and now Hearts are in trouble. Matty Kennedy is in oceans of space out on the left and he’s Lembikisa’s man. Kent is nearby and Watkins is now his man but instead of pressing the striker, he sits off him.
Watkins doesn’t pass it to Kennedy, instead drifting left before turning back on himself. Now, he’s got time and space to have a pop at goal – and he makes the most of it in emphatic fashion.
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Tait breaks the lines
Kilmarnock’s stuffy approach meant that someone in midfield had to try and break the lines, get forward and create uncertainty in the opposition defence. Killie’s back four were essentially man-for-man with Hearts’ front four, meaning a well-timed run from deep could potentially unlock the defence. It felt as though no one was making them, but someone was. He just wasn’t seeing enough of the ball.
Tait’s positioning was impressive throughout Saturday afternoon. There were one or two misplaced passes, as is to be expected for a young player making his first start, but his efforts off the ball and use of space were brilliant.
He set the tone early on with an excellent supporting run alongside Vargas and Grant as Hearts broke forward on the counter. He didn’t get the pass on this occasion, but his positioning is strong and Grant is in an equally promising position.
There were other occasions, though, where it’s harder to understand why he wasn’t played in. At times, Hearts were afforded time on the ball inside Killie’s half and a risk was required if they were going to break Killie down. Tait, spotting space in Kilmarnock’s defensive line, would rush forward to provide an option – only for his team-mate to opt for a simple short pass instead that ultimately led to nothing. Take a look at the two examples below from the first half.
The problem persisted after the break. Take a look at the example below, where Hearts have some rare space to exploit on the counter-attack. Grant plays it inside to Shankland, but Forrest has to be the next pass. Just look at how much space he’s in.
Instead, Shankland takes a touch inside and prepares to shoot. A Killie defender comes rushing out to meet him, and Tait has made the overlapping run. If Shankland cuts it to him, then Tait and Forrest are in a 2v1 situation with the last man. An excellent opportunity surely follows.
That doesn’t happen, though. Shankland elects to shoot instead, it’s intercepted, and the chance comes to nothing in the end.
In many ways, Tait’s performance summed up Hearts’ afternoon. It will go down as a missed opportunity but the truth is that the chances were there and Naismith’s men didn’t take them. Poor decision-making at crucial moments meant that sights at goal didn’t even arise – and in the end, few could complain about a share of the spoils.
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