Hearts reaction: Crowd chant aimed at Michael Beale, debutant's comedy moment, derby significance

We pick out three talking points from the 5-0 win for Hearts over Aberdeen at Tynecastle in the cinch Premiership ...

Crowd involvement

“Are you watching Michael Beale?” The Hearts fans were in full voice as they revelled in their team’s goal spree and the fact that it allowed them to extend their lead over Aberdeen, the club the Rangers boss had recently claimed were the third force in the Scottish game, to nine points.

While Jim Goodwin’s men were better in spells than the final score would suggest, they crumbled under the intensity and pressure applied by the capital hosts, who were clinical on the night.

Yutaro Oda replaces Robert Snodgrass to make his Hearts debut after the home fans alerted him to the fact he was being summoned to the bench. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The Pittodrie manager described it as embarrassing and he looked pained as he reacted to the goals going in, but the home fans enjoyed every minute of it and could’t wait to get a cheeky dig in during their second-half sing-song.

It wasn’t the only light-hearted moment, though. Calling Yutaro Oda back from his warm-up, Hearts manager Robbie Neilson was unable to get the Japanese forward’s attention despite prolonged screaming and gesticulating and it was the punters in the Gorgie Stand and the Gorgie end of the main stand who eventually intervened and got the message over, causing some amusement and some grateful thumbs ups to the crowd from the player as he sprinted back to the technical area to prepare for his Tynecastle debut.

Lawrence Shankland closing in

The ongoing row over who is better between - Hibs’ Kevin Nisbet or Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland - will no doubt raise its head again as the strikers line up against each other this weekend. The fact is both strikers are in superb scoring form and both are obvious assets to their sides and a danger to the opposition.

Although he failed to score in the most recent derby, Nisbet has been in prolific form since returning from injury, scoring seven goals in six appearances, five in the last two games, and he will test the newlook Hearts backline, which includes January signing James Hill, who has yet to sample a capital derby but has looked assured in his first couple of games. After Toby Sibbick went off suffering from cramp against Aberdeen, paving the way for Stephen Kingsley to return, Jambos boss Robbie Neison has a decision to make over who starts in Leith.

But, while there are also options at the top end of the team, with Stephen Humphrys, Yutaro Oda and, if recovered, Garang Kuol, captain Shankland remains the main man and has the opportunity to reach a landmark tally if he can find the net at Easter Road.

Just one goal shy of becoming the first Hearts player in 31 years to bag 20 goals in a season and matching top goalscorer John Robertson’s tally from the 1991/92 term, the possibility of doing that in a derby - a fixture in which Robbo flourished - seems fitting.

No downplaying the derby

There are managers who get to derbies and like to pretend that they are just another game, just another three points, just a cup tie like all the others. But Hearts boss Robbie Neilson understands that matches against city rivals Hibs are bigger than that and that has seeped down into the mindset of his players.

While the focus was Aberdeen, the minute that match was over (which realistically was around the half-time mark given the scoreline) thoughts switched to Sunday’s derby match.

Bestowed even greater significance due to the fact it is a Scottish Cup meeting, there was no attempt to minimise the magnitude of the fixture as manager and players described it as one of the biggest, or even the biggest game of their season.

A 2-1 victory over the same opponents, in the same competition last season paved the way for a shot at the final and although they ultimately came up just short, they benefited from a more preferential European entrance. This term they are set on going one better and after a disappointingly-early exit from this term’s League Cup competition there is also something to prove.

Neilson has competed in enough derbies as a player and manager to know how they can dictate the mood of the supporters and the atmosphere in camp and with feel-good vibes coursing through the club at the moment a derby cup tie victory would only galvanise them.There is plenty of evidence of that over the years but lose it and 2016 serves as a reminder of just how bothersome that could become.