The Dons’ title dream appears to have finally come to an end, after they let their early lead slip against Hearts tonight.
The Reds have put up a valiant push to Celtic’s defence of the Premiership all campaign, but this defeat allows the Hoops to create an eight-point gap at the top with a victory at Motherwell tomorrow.
It had all looked so good for Aberdeen, who set the pace with a blistering start to the match, taking the lead after just four minutes through Simon Church’s close-range finish, which sent the near 1,500 away supporters into raptures.
The Dons created further chances in the opening 10 minutes, but unlike their last Premiership visit to Tynecastle, when they were three goals to the good by half-time, they were unable to capitalise on the domination, with attacker Juanma Delgado’s double swinging the game in Hearts’ favour, narrowing the gap on the second-placed Dons to just nine points with a game in hand.
With Celtic continuing to stutter in recent weeks, tonight’s game was billed as the Dons’ biggest in 25 years, with the opportunity to pile huge pressure on the Parkhead club ahead of the Hoops’ tricky match at in-form Motherwell tomorrow afternoon.
The Reds knew defeat at Tynecastle, however, would virtually put the champagne on ice for Ronny Deila’s side.
Aberdeen arrived in the capital in confident mood following one of their best displays of the campaign, in the form of last Sunday’s 3-0 victory against Hamilton Accies.
Derek McInnes made one change to the side that triumphed against the Lanarkshire side, giving youngster Craig Storie the nod in the heart of midfield ahead of Willo Flood.
Hearts’ squad shook off the effects of the sickness bug which caused the postponement of Tuesday’s match at Caley Thistle, as their only absentee from the side that went down 3-1 against Celtic the previous weekend was suspended defender Juwon Oshaniwa, who was replaced by Blazej Augustyn.
The Dons began promisingly, and despite Hearts having the first attempt when Sam Nicholson dragged a shot wide, the visitors grabbed the opening goal their early play merited after just four minutes. After being released down the left, Graeme Shinnie danced away from Prince Buaben before sending in a tempting cross to the near post, which was met by the onrushing Simon Church to ram home at the near post and give his side the vital breakthrough.
The visitors showed no signs of letting up, with Niall McGinn twice coming close to adding a prompt second, firstly stabbing wide from Kenny McLean’s cross before being denied by the feet of goalkeeper Neil Alexander after the Northern Irishman had pounced on a slip-up by Augustyn.
Aberdeen’s domination continued, with Igor Rossi spared an own goal by the sharp reactions of Alexander following his slice from Jonny Hayes’ corner, before Shay Logan’s header was clutched by the Jambos’ custodian, with the home support becoming edgy following the Dons’ blistering start.
It was Aberdeen’s attacking players who saw most of the ball in the opening stages, but when called upon for the first time, goalkeeper Scott Brown was equally impressive, keeping out Augustyn’s close-range header with an outstanding save.
A let-off for the Dons, and a warning that spurned early opportunities could prove costly, and following increasing pressure by the hosts, parity was restored on 33 minutes. Skipper Alim Ozturk was afforded the space to shoot from the edge of the box, with his low effort parried straight to the feet of attacker Juanma by Brown, and the Spaniard made no mistake from close-range.
The Reds had lost the swagger that made their dominantion of the opening 10 minutes look so easy, and they suffered a blow on 43 minutes when skipper Ryan Jack was stretchered off following a challenge by Buaben, replaced by Flood.
Following a somewhat rocky end to the first-half, Aberdeen looked to quickly settle back into their stride after the interval, but Hearts picked up from where they left off with further pressure, with a last-ditch challenge by Shay Logan preventing Buaben from stabbing home from close-range, before Igor Rossi’s thundering strike from the edge of the box rattled off the left-hand post.
Momentum was firmly with the home side, and although the Dons created opportunities to regain their lead when McGinn headed wide and McLean’s free-kick flew over the bar, Hearts turned the match on its head with a second goal just after the hour-mark. With the Dons defence stretched, Hearts midfielder Jamie Walker was released down the left, and he swung in a delivery that was turned home at the near post by Juanma.
A response was required from the Dons, and they came close to levelling on 70 minutes when McGinn prodded wide from Flood’s cross, but Hears were able to see the game out.