Dundee United 1-0 Hearts: Jose back but no luck for Jambos

The club hierarchy momentarily overlooked their disbelief at an unsigned contract and reinstated their most saleable asset to the team.

The man in question was barely fit after a thigh injury but looked imperious as Dundee United were fended off for 78 minutes before a fortuitous goal settled this contest.

Morgaro Gomis struck it, utilising a ricochet off Jason Thomson to ensure the ball crept past Janos Balogh.

The three points kept United in third place, but for Hearts there was palpable dejection.

A patched-up visiting side had started strongly and held their own for much of the match despite being without an entire team of established figures – Michael Stewart, Marius Zaliukas, Eggert Jonsson, Ismael Bouzid, Andy Driver and Marian Kello amongst them.

Gomis' goal ended their recent three-game winning sequence, prompting a feeling of so near yet so far at full-time.

On the overall balance of play, it would be churlish to suggest United were not worthy victors. However, for long spells of the second half it seemed Hearts' trademark defensive defiance was about to procure another useful SPL point.

At the centre of the resilience was Goncalves, a surprise inclusion given that his manager, Jim Jefferies, pledged never to select him again unless he signed a contract extension.

The complete absence of central defenders forced a rethink. Jefferies had hoped to reinstate Bouzid but the Algerian internationalist has now injured the other hamstring from that damaged in last month's Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final against St Mirren.

Dawid Kucharski failed to train on Thursday and Friday and was thus ruled out, as was Zaliukas, while Jonsson was serving a one-match suspension at Tannadice.

Goncalves performed admirably throughout considering he answered an SOS to play with his own thigh problem less than fully cured.

He partnered Lee Wallace in the centre of a makeshift defence with Jason Thomson at right-back and David Obua left-back. There was another enforced change when Stewart sustained an injury during the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by Paul Mulrooney. That left Wallace to don the captain's armband.

But attention centred on Goncalves, who had last played for Hearts against Motherwell on 30 December.

Quite simply, he looked like he'd never been away, but that does not mean all is forgiven. His selection was quite simply a matter of necessity and, unless he scribbles his signature on the proposed contract, he may well return to the shadows for the remainder of the season.

"It was about convincing Jose to play because he'd been out for so long and only just came back to training a couple of days ago," explained Jefferies.

"If I had somebody else fit he wouldn't have played. He did well to get through the game having been out for so long. Once he's back fit we will try to negotiate and get this thing resolved. If not, we'll wait and see.

"I report to the sport director (Alexandr Metlitski]. I told him the situation that we needed to play Jose and he agreed. There was no problem. Everybody understands it was a necessity because of the players we had out. Jose did great to step in because we were really under the cosh at the back. If he hadn't played, God knows who I'd have played. Jose has been out injured for a while. He shouldn't have been playing yesterday. We talked to him, he trained for two or three days and we were under the cosh.

"We said 'did he fancy it?' and, to be fair, he did. He was only supposed to play for an hour. He came over (to the technical area] a couple of times signalling that was his time up but, with young Mulrooney struggling, we'd already made two subs so he battled through it.

"We had Lee Wallace at right centre-back, Obua at left-back, so we did well. Dundee United are a good side who have been going well. They put you under pressure at Tannadice and they were at their strongest. Hearts were nowhere near their strongest. Maybe that was the difference between winning and losing."

Jefferies admitted the contract impasse between Goncalves and Hearts officials is still in existence.

"Jose is in discussions with the club, he's been made a very good offer. If he doesn't take it I can only understand that he doesn't want to be here. I hope he changes his mind because I want him to be here. Hopefully, he will. It's up to him. The club will still have discussions. We've said many times that he's been made a good offer. Personally, I don't know why he's turned it down. He must have a reason, whether he's thinking of moving on or whatever. I said you're better to concentrate on players who want to be here, but these players weren't available yesterday because of injuries."

Hearts started the match strongly and pressed United back during the opening stages, with Mulrooney exerting a controlling influence in central midfield. The visitors were slightly fortunate not be penalised for handball in their own penalty box as Obua fell on the ball whilst challenging David Goodwillie. That apart, there was little concern for Jefferies. Mulrooney himself would have opened the scoring with a raking 25-yard drive but for the fingertips of the United goalkeeper Dusan Pernis. "I thought we played some really good stuff in the first 25 minutes," said Jefferies. "Obua was getting down the left and had one great ball in. Our problem scoring goals has been evident but we need the injured players to make it better for us. Ten minutes from kick-off, we had to throw young Mulrooney in after Michael's calf strain stiffened up, and he was outstanding. He tackled well, passed it well and it was a terrific plus for us to see a young kid like that. He came off with cramp in the second half and I think you could understand why."

It was no co-incidence that, as Mulrooney wilted slightly, United assumed greater command of midfield. Eventually, they broke through on 78 minutes. Craig Conway's right-sided free-kick landed at the feet of Garry Kenneth, who teed up Gomis to plant the ball beyond Balogh with the help of a rather cruel deflection off Thomson. The celebrations amongst the United support emphasised the importance of the goal with little time for Hearts to fashion a response. "I didn't think it was going in," conceded Gomis. "I've been practising shooting all season so I don't know what's happening. We need to score more goals so it was about midfielders getting in good positions to score. I don't think I can catch David Goodwillie because he has scored a few more goals than me.

Peter Houston, the United manager, was elated with a victory which keeps his team third in the SPL. "I'm just delighted with the three points," he said. "Every Hearts team is difficult. They started better then we picked it up and for last 30 minutes of the first half I thought we were really good. I complimented our players on that at half-time and I thought we could have had a couple of penalty kicks in the first half, especially the Obua incident. I thought it wasn't going to go for us in the second half because a few chances went by but we got a wee break when the ball hit the defender and went in."