Hearts report and player ratings v Motherwell with 7s and 8s as Gorgie side hit eight in a row

Hearts report and player ratings v Motherwell with 7s and 8s as Gorgie side hit eight in a row

Lawrence Shankland’s header and an instinctive Kenneth Vargas goal earned Hearts an eighth successive win whilst stretching their unbeaten run to 12 matches as they dispensed with Motherwell. The captain delivered when it mattered once again to claim his 26th goal of a remarkable campaign, and Vargas added a second to settle a tense affair at Tynecastle Park.

Motherwell would have been ahead at the interval had they converted their first-half opportunities. Hearts increased their tempo after the interval and forced a breakthrough which proved decisive. The three points takes them 14 points clear in third place in the cinch Premiership table as they home in on a European spot.

This was far from a straightforward assignment and Motherwell were entitled to leave Gorgie feeling slightly aggrieved that they did not take something back west with them. Once Shankland had nodded them in front, Hearts did not really look like relinquishing the lead. Vargas made it 2-0 in the dying moments.

The Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly produced the game’s first save to divert an inadvertent header from his own defender, Paul McGinn, over the crossbar following Alex Cochrane’s free-kick delivery for Hearts. Then came a far more taxing save from Kelly’s Scotland colleague, Zander Clark, at the opposite end. The visiting defender Dan Casey volleyed a dipping shot from nearly 40 yards out which the backpedalling Clark had to push over for a corner as it dropped beneath his crossbar.

Referee Chris Graham issued a yellow card to Shankland on 25 minutes despite the Hearts captain winning the ball in his challenge with Motherwell’s Jack Vale. The North Lanarkshire side then fashioned the afternoon’s clearest chance when midfielder Harry Paton played Lennon Miller in behind the Hearts defence. He entered the penalty area only to fire wide with a shot which lacked conviction.

The hosts needed better movement and more incisive, braver passing in the final third. They changed formation from 3-5-2 to 4-2-3-1 for the second half as Beni Baningime and Dexter Lembikisa were replaced by Kenneth Vargas and Nathaniel Atkinson respectively. Baningime went down holding his hamstring late in the first period after chasing the Motherwell forward Theo Bair down the flank.

Hearts had 76 per cent of possession in the first half but Motherwell still fashioned the better scoring chances. They created another one just after the restart. Wing-back Georgie Gent’s low drive from an acute angle was pushed away by the diving Clark. Hearts responded when Shankland hit Calem Nieuwenhof’s cross into the ground, and from the rebound Alan Forrest’s ambitious effort was touched away by Kelly.

Eventually, Hearts’ control of play yielded an opening goal. Once again, Shankland claimed it. Forrest angled a free-kick into the Motherwell penalty area which Shankland met for a deliberate downward header out of Kelly’s reach and into the bottom corner. The subsequent roar from the home support was perhaps as much in relief as joy.

Vargas struck a post with a spectacular volley on 70 minutes as the home team strove to put this game to bed. Kelly thwarted Forrest with another fine stop 11 minutes later when the winger ought to have scored from 12 yards out. Maroon shirts were now knocking the ball around with more confidence and the Tynecastle crowd responded.

Vargas controlled a cross from the right on the turn to fire past Kelly in stoppage-time for a well-taken goal which made sure of the three points.

Here are the Hearts player ratings from Tynecastle: