Scottish round-up: Wins for Hearts and Aberdeen
Wednesday 28 December 2016 14:02, UK
Ian Cathro secured his first win as Hearts boss after his side thrashed Kilmarnock 4-0 at Tynecastle on Tuesday night.
First-half goals from Callum Paterson and Arnaud Djoum gave the hosts a commanding lead at the interval before a Jamie Walker double in the second period sealed the comfortable win.
There was worrying news for Cathro, however, as goalscorer Paterson was taken off with a knee injury shortly after opening the scoring.
He is scheduled to have a scan on Wednesday and Cathro said: "We don't know for sure yet, it's an awkward one and bringing some concern obviously but we don't know at this stage, we need to hope things are as positive as possible when they eventually get looked at."
The full-back had given Hearts the lead after just 10 minutes when his volley beat Jamie MacDonald in the Kilmarnock goal. It was 2-0 six minutes before half-time when Liam Smith's inswinging delivery was met by Djoum who guided the ball into the net.
Hearts had squandered a two-goal lead against Dundee just before Christmas as they were pegged back in a 3-2 defeat but there seemed to be little chance of them letting that happen again.
Walker made it 3-0 three minutes after the interval when he reacted quickest to MacDonald parrying away Prince Buaben's effort to put the ball into the back of the net.
A short backpass by Will Boyle then let in Walker, who raced through on goal and slipped the ball past MacDonald for his second and Hearts' fourth after 69 minutes. Dario Zanatta had a penalty saved late on for the home side but it did not take the gloss off of a dominating performance.
Earlier in the day Aberdeen were made to work for a 2-1 victory over Hamilton at Pittodrie in their final home game of 2016 as goals from Ash Taylor and Adam Rooney earned them the win.
Taylor's opener was cancelled out by a Dougie Imrie penalty before Rooney grabbed the winner, with Hamilton having defender Scott McMann sent off in time added on. The three points ensured the Dons kept up the pressure on second-placed Rangers in the Premiership.
Aberdeen took the lead when Jonny Hayes' free-kick was met by the head of Taylor, who found the corner of the net from 10 yards.
However, the home side shot themselves in the foot just three minutes later. Taylor's clearance was charged down by Danny Redmond, who then tried to round Joe Lewis, only to be brought down by the goalkeeper. Referee Andrew Dallas immediately pointed to the spot.
Imrie confidently stepped up to send Lewis the wrong way with the spot-kick and level the scores.
However, Aberdeen eventually restored their lead in the second half thanks to Rooney, who was quick to react when Gary Woods could only parry a shot from substitute James Maddison and fired home from close range.
There was late drama as McMann was sent off for hauling Hayes to the turf in injury time, with Woods making a fine double save to prevent the Dons from extending their lead.
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