Dundee Utd 0
Hearts 1
League (Premiership)

Match Report

Mixu Paatelainen made his debut as Dundee United manager by making three changes from the defeat at Partick Thistle. Aaron Kuhl, Mark Durnan and Billy McKay started in place of Callum Morris, Ryan Dow and Euan Spark.

Hearts started the stronger of the two sides, and the opening goal came after 16 minutes. Sam Nicholson collected the ball on the left wing and cut into the penalty area, eluding the challenge of John Souttar. Blair Spittal barged Nicholson in the back, and a penalty was the result. Juanma stepped up and drilled the ball low into the right-hand corner of Luis Zwick's net. United did have a claim for a penalty themselves midway through the half, when Juanma tugged on the shirt of Ryan McGowan as he attempted to challenge for the ball, but the incident was missed by the referee. Danny Swanson then tested Zwick with a rasping free-kick from 25 yards that the United keeper tipped over the crossbar, before being set-up by Osman Sow, his strike on this occasion smothered by Zwick at the second attempt.

After half time, United were much improved without creating any clear cut chances. Aaron Kuhl sent a dipping free kick just over the bar on the hour mark, but United did not create many other chances from open play. The second half degenerated into a rather niggly affair, with numerous free kicks for both sides, and several Hearts players going down with cramp. In stoppage time, Blair Spittal was shown his second yellow card after tripping Nicholson as he caught United on the break. United still had time to win another free kick in a good position. However, Kuhl sent a disappointing effort well over the bar. That was United’s final chance against a Hearts side who were content to see the game out.

Manager Comments: “What surprised me was that the quality let us down a little bit in the final third. We'll work on these things; it's very, very early days. We've not had a chance to work on the offensive stuff; we wanted to make sure we defended well. I'm disappointed with the result but pleased with how the players tried and how committed they were”.

Fan Comment: “A rather uninspiring performance to start Mixu Paatalainen’s tenure at the club. Hearts looked comfortable once they took the lead aside from a couple of United free kicks. The players are evidently lacking confidence and a spark going forward, which is one of many problems Mixu needs to sort out over the next few weeks”.

Formation: 4-4-2
Captain: Seán Dillon
Arab Archive 'Man of the Match': John Rankin

Match Photos courtesy of Riki Grauer - More photos available at:
Dundee United Official Flickr Page