Aberdeen 0 - 0 Hearts: Aberdeen denied again by defiant Hearts

Hearts 0

Attendance: 11,971

Aberdeen, who have failed to score against the Edinburgh team since January 2010 – a run spanning eight games – must be asking themselves what more they can possibly do to bring that drought to an end.

Craig Brown’s team, a far more substantial proposition this season than they were last, steadily cranked up the pressure on Hearts after a modest beginning. They hit the bar, had shots blocked on or close to the line, and created any number of chances. Right up until the dying minutes, they retained the will to claim the win – yet simply could not force the ball across the line.

For Hearts, this third league draw in a row was definitely a point won rather than one dropped. Their lack of a cutting edge may become a worry in the weeks and months to come, but after their display against Liverpool on Thursday night it was understandable here. On balance, therefore, no matter the limitations shown by his team, John McGlynn can regard this draw as a positive outcome.

Both clubs made just the one change from the line-ups which had begun their midweek outings, in each case enforced by circumstances. Stephen Hughes was ruled out of the Aberdeen side with a hamstring injury, with Russell Anderson coming back after missing the midweek League Cup win at Morton. For Hearts, Andrew Driver returned for the suspended David Templeton, playing behind John Sutton in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Isaac Osbourne had a changeable role in a five-man home midfield, at times man-marking Driver, at others ambling further forward to pick up Mehdi Taouil. The Englishman helped to gain a solid platform for Aberdeen in the early exchanges, and Ryan Fraser looked threatening at times on the right wing, but up front Scott Vernon was getting little change out of the Hearts defence.

It was a similar story at the other end, with target man John Sutton often being too remote from any support. Driver looked more capable of helping the striker when cutting in from the right rather than going straight through the middle, but Hearts also needed to get Callum Paterson further forward. Paterson, unlucky not to score in the Europa League defeat by Liverpool, was stationed wide on the right but was rarely able to venture deep into enemy territory. In other words, the defences were well on top for the first half-hour. Some trickery by Arvydas Novikovas on the left had initially caused problems for Anderson, but thereafter Fraser’s forays were more noticeable, and it was from one such run that Aberdeen should have taken the lead ten minutes before half-time. The winger’s low cross broke to Ryan Jack on the far side of the box, but he failed to make a clean connection, allowing Jamie MacDonald first to smother the shot and then to gather the rebound.

That effort prompted a rousing conclusion to the first half in which Hearts picked up two yellow cards and Aberdeen came desperately close to breaking the deadlock. Taouil was first to be booked, picking up his caution for a trip on Vernon, who would have been clear in the box.

Aberdeen kept up the pressure and Zaliukas was booked for lunging into Fraser as the winger raced for the byeline. Jonny Hayes took the free-kick but the delivery was snuffed out by the defence.

Just a couple of minutes from the interval, however, the Hearts back four – and MacDonald – were beaten, but still Aberdeen failed to score. Vernon got the better of that defence by getting in first to a cut-back from the right, but his spinning dink from only two or three yards out grazed the crossbar and rebounded out into play beyond the far post and to safety.

Zaliukas was understandably withdrawn at half-time given his injury problems, being replaced by midfielder Denis Prychynenko, with Darren Barr moving back into central defence. Aberdeen were unchanged, and so, initially, was the pattern of play, as they continued their quest for that elusive goal.

Fraser had moved to the left flank, where he proved as useful as he had been on the right. His first possession of the half seemed certain to end in the deadlock being broken when MacDonald could only block a shot, but the assistant referee’s flag was up for offside.

Hearts appeared tame, if not timid, at this stage: composed enough at the back, but unable to assert themselves physically in midfield. When you have Taouil, Driver and Novikovas in the same side there is no doubting the creative potential, but what you gain in artistry you too often lose in solidity.

Prychynenko is a powerfully-built character but was slow to get involved. Paterson, also robustly built, remained marginal: the 17-year-old had been far more assertive in midweek, against more formidable opposition, than he was here.

MacDonald was again called into action when Vernon rose for a free header, but this time, too, the flag was up. Considine was then booked following a midfield tussle as Aberdeen’s frustration began to show, and although more than 20 minutes were left to play, it had long seemed clear that the first goal would be enough to claim the three points.

Jason Holt and Dale Carrick joined Prychynenko off the bench as John McGlynn tried to inject some inspiration into his team, but Aberdeen retained the upper hand. Hayes cut the defence open before passing to Fallon, but the substitute’s shot was blocked as Hearts hung on defiantly.

That quality was the most positive aspect for the visitors, who were understandably displaying some mental fatigue after their European exertions. For their part, Aberdeen can take most encouragement from the fact that if they create this many chances in every game, they will surely win the majority.

The last chance, it should be said, fell to Hearts. In stoppage time, a cross from the right found Driver, whose first-time shot crashed back off the right post. If that effort had gone in it would have been the cruellest of blows for Aberdeen, who as it was left the field scarcely believing that their labours had gained them no more than a point.