It wasn’t pretty but Heart of Midlothian are in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup.
A late equaliser from Calem Nieuwenhof, seconds after his return from 11 months on the sidelines, forced extra time before Hearts progressed on penalties.
Had the fifth-round tie away to St Mirren taken place earlier in the season, the Gorgie side would be out. But after converting four of their five penalties, and with Craig Gordon saving St Mirren’s first two, Hearts are in the last eight of the tournament where they will face Dundee at Tynecastle Park.
It was a slog. St Mirren reacted better to the bobbly pitch and tough conditions. But Neil Critchley’s men dug in and after a few substitutions and a change of shape, the game swung in their favour.
Craig Cairns analyses a gritty Scottish Cup performance.
A tough first half
Hearts fell behind midway through the half and could have been further behind by half time.
St Mirren’s strategy was to play direct, knowing that Critchley’s side like to press high, sometimes leaving space behind the defence. This was perfect for pacey forward Toyosi Olusanya and with the physicality of Mandron alongside him it caused a number of problems.
On a bobbly pitch, Hearts’ approach was similarly direct, though not as effective. Elton Kabangu drifted offside a few times and did not link with Lawrence Shankland as well as he did at Dens Park. With little aerial ability in the final third, the ball rarely stuck there.
Their best opportunities came from attacking transitions, winning the ball and breaking quickly. The best of these was when Cammy Devlin intercepted and Kaganbu tested Zach Hemming with a low strike.
In the opening 45 minutes, St Mirren congested the centre of the pitch, played the conditions better and won more individual battles.
Formation change
That, unfortunately for the visitors, continued into the second half but Michael Steinwender’s introduction shortly after the break helped to change things.
That was enforced due to a dead leg picked up by Lewis Neilson and after an initial bedding-in period the Austrian helped to stem the flow of St Mirren attacks.
Given the conditions, the direct nature of Stephen Robinson’s side and that it was his first significant amount of playing time, that St Mirren were less of a threat after he came on says a lot. But it wasn’t until after the hour mark and a double substitution that Hearts got a grip of the game.
Sander Kartum came on for his debut, replacing Alan Forrest and Cammy Devlin made way for James Wilson. It meant Shankland and Blair Spittal dropping back to form part of a midfield diamond.
After the match, Critchley explained his thinking: “We just felt like it was difficult to play on the pitch tonight. It wasn't easy, and we know that when you play with backward momentum, they're very good at pressing forward and are very athletic at the top end of the pitch.
“It's hard then to play passes into midfield because the pitch is quite lively. So we thought if we're going to go forward, it's better to have two runners on the last line rather than one, so we put two up there.
“I felt that helped us to build more momentum, and we also got very dangerous on the break, on transition moments. So I felt that that helped, although I still would have liked for us to use the ball better."
He added: “I think you can see we're a team still in transition, still learning, still understanding what it is we're trying to do and how we want to be as a team. And that just takes time.”
Until then, Hearts had put a number of crosses into the St Mirren box but nothing had come off.
A midfield three of Spittal, Beni Baningime – who was excellent throughout – and Kartum, with Shankland just ahead, gave Hearts a control they lacked until that point.
The “two runners” of Wilson and Kabangu gave the St Mirren defence, which had naturally become more protective of its slender lead, more to think about.
When Nieuwenhof’s equaliser finally came, it came through a good passage of play with Wilson heavily involved – as he was during the previous attack seconds earlier.
Calem Nieuwenhof and Sander Kartum
Nieuwenhof’s impact was instant, but lasting. After winning a foul, he was involved in the initial period of play to get Hearts up the pitch to put on the pressure.
The Australian arrived late in the box to score an important goal – giving a glimpse of the different qualities he can bring to the midfield of Critchley’s 4-4-2.
After his equaliser, if any team looked like winning – before the end or in extra time – it was the away team. Wilson took a sore one to win a header and spend Kabangu on his way in the dying seconds. A combination of a bad touch and a poor pitch denied him a clear shot at goal.
Read more
- Neil Critchley on Hearts tactical switch, Devlin injury, Musa absence
- Hearts star reveals penalty switch as team-mate was ninth
- How one Hearts star views James Wilson and Calem Nieuwenhof
Like with Steinwender, it probably wasn’t the ideal scenario to bring on Kartum but the Norwegian showed a lot of promise in his more than an hour of game time. Though, in future, we are more likely to see him on the right of the 4-4-2 than part of a midfield diamond.
Another of Hearts’ best chances came when he won the ball in midfield and broke forward, even if he chose the wrong pass.
There was also a lashed effort well over the bar late in the game, but Kartum showed composure on the ball and a drive to get forward.
While not everything came off for him, he showed enough to suggest he is another good addition to this evolving Hearts side that found a new way to win on this impressive run of results.
