Spurs starlets are stars of show against Hearts as Real Madrid-linked teen impresses - as does Jambos new boy

Hearts were given a lesson by Tottenham Hotspur in this pre-season friendly - although it took until Spurs' star names were replaced before the floodgates opened. On his return to Scottish football for the first time since leaving Celtic last summer, Ange Postecoglou's English Premier League outfit powered to a 5-1 victory, with a number of their young players impressing off the bench. For Hearts, this will act as a valuable assignment ahead of competitive tests against Old Firm and European opponents when the action kicks off for real. Postecoglou brought all of his players available to him to the capital and Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski were among a host of household names who started in front of a healthy 15,646 crowd. New signing Archie Gray partnered Oliver Skipp and a central defence that consisted of two midfielders.

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There were a further two familiar faces in the Spurs camp in former Hibs manager Nick Montgomery and coach Sergio Raimundo. The duo were appointed by Postecoglou just weeks after they were axed by the Easter Road club in May. For Hearts, Costa Rican right-back Gerald Taylor made his first appearance in maroon, while returning Scotland Euro 2024 squad members Zander Clark and Lawrence Shankland were on the bench. With Hearts being a couple of weeks ahead of Spurs in terms of prep, the hosts were able to carve out some early chances. All three of their best openings fell to Kyosuke Tagawa. The Japanese's first, a close-range effort, was brilliantly turned over the bar by Spurs keeper Brandon Austin, but he ought to have done much better with his two others, failing to hit the target after good work each time from Taylor. It was the Los Ticos player who caught the eye the most. An athletic, rangy 23-year-old, Taylor bombed up and down the right flank and was purposeful in attack. He also made a key block to deny Spurs the opening goal and his opening 45 minutes certainly had the Jambos' support chattering in excitement.

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Spurs did go in ahead at the break, although it took them 39 minutes to open the scoring. Craig Gordon had earlier made a superb one-handed save to stop Son's strike but he was powerless to stop Brennan Johnson netting after cute interplay between Kulusevski and Maddison. Postecoglou changed his entire team at the break, while Hearts head coach Steven Naismith brought on three players. One of those was Shankland and within 60 seconds he had levelled, converting from close range after Yan Dhanda had won the ball deep in Spurs territory. Parity did not last long. On 56 minutes, Will Lankshear was sent through on goal and he clinically swept the ball past goalkeeper Clark, who had also come on at the break.

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Spurs' replacements - many of them youngsters - were far sharper than the first-half XI and Mikey Moore, who is regarded by many as a special talent at Tottenham and is reportedly courting interest from Real Madrid and PSG, made it 3-1 on 66 minutes from close range as they attacked with purpose. By this point though, Hearts had made their own raft of changes. Spurs were threatening to put an ugly complexion on the scoreline. Djed Spence prodded home from close range on 72 minutes and the travelling fans behind the goal became increasingly boisterous. "Where's your Arsenal flag," they sang to one now muted Hearts supporter. Spurs added a fifth on 85 minutes at the back post via Ashley Phillips. Hearts are unlikely to face such classy opposition in the near future.