Hearts vs Hibernian. Scottish Premiership.
TynecastleAttendance18,971.
Match report as Hearts and Hibs draw 1-1 at Tynecastle in final game of the Scottish Premiership season; Yutaro Oda gave hosts ninth-minute lead; Alex Cochrane was sent off on the half hour; Kevin Nisbet immediately levelled, but Hearts held on to claim fourth and a place in ECL qualifiers
Saturday 27 May 2023 19:21, UK
Ten-player Hearts held on for a 1-1 draw in a tense final-day Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle to stop Hibernian leapfrogging them into fourth place in the cinch Premiership.
Immediately after the game, a handshake between Hearts interim boss Steven Naismith and Hibs counterpart Lee Johnson sparked an ugly melee on the touchline while players from both teams confronted each other on the pitch.
""It was a case of two managers who don't like each other very much and that's what started it," said Johnson.
The Jambos knew a point would be enough to keep their fifth-placed city rivals beneath them and secure automatic European qualification next term, and they got off to the perfect start when Yutaro Oda fired them into a ninth-minute lead.
But a red card for Alex Cochrane - his third of the season - on the half hour and an equaliser from Kevin Nisbet immediately afterwards meant Hearts had to dig deep for more than an hour - including stoppage-time - to get the point they needed.
Despite Hibs failing to get the win they craved, they will join their old foes in getting a crack at the Europa Conference League as long as Celtic defeat Championship side Inverness in next weekend's Scottish Cup final, albeit starting in an earlier qualifying round.
Hearts made two changes to the team that started Wednesday's 2-2 draw away to Rangers as Cochrane and Barrie McKay replaced Toby Sibbick and Alan Forrest.
There was one enforced change to the Hibs team that started Wednesday's win over Celtic as Chris Cadden replaced the injured CJ Egan-Riley.
Hearts got off to the perfect start when they took the lead in the ninth minute as Japanese forward Oda drilled home his first goal for the club from just inside the box after a long throw-in from James Hill was only partially cleared by the Hibs defence.
The hosts suffered a blow in the 17th minute when midfielder Peter Haring - who only recently returned following a lengthy concussion lay-off - was forced off after clashing heads with Cadden while trying to deal with a cross from Elie Youan. The Austrian was replaced by Orestis Kiomourtzoglou.
The game swung in Hibs' favour just before the half hour, however, when they were awarded a penalty after Cochrane brought Cadden down as he burst into the box.
Following a VAR review, referee Don Robertson showed a red card to Cochrane - whom he had initially booked - for denying a goalscoring opportunity but he changed the spot-kick award to a free-kick as the foul had been committed just outside the box.
This mattered little to the Hibees, however, as Nisbet, who had been preparing to take the penalty, instead drove the free-kick through the defensive wall and into Zander Clark's bottom-right corner.
The visitors' tails were up and in the 35th minute Paul Hanlon saw a shot pushed over by Clark from the edge of the box, before Jake Doyle-Hayes' effort from the resulting corner was deflected behind. Joe Newell then saw a 15-yard strike brilliantly tipped over by Clark from a Doyle-Hayes corner just before the break.
Hibs boss Lee Johnson, knowing his team needed a win to leapfrog their opponents, made two attacking changes for the start of the second half as Ewan Henderson and Harry McKirdy replaced Lewis Miller and James Jeggo.
The visitors went close to taking the lead in the 49th minute when Nisbet glanced a header just wide from a Cadden cross.
The Hibees' cause was not helped by the fact they lost both Doyle-Hayes and Cadden to injury in the early stages of the second half.
Will Fish had a header from a Newell corner brilliantly saved by Clark in the 75th minute and the centre-back saw another header deflected on to the post, but for all their possession Hibs were unable to find a way through a resilient Hearts back-line, sparking jubilant full-time scenes from the home side.
Analysis by SSN reporter Mark Benstead at Tynecastle:
"The two managers clashed at full-time. I saw arms raised between the two managers, both sets of technical staff joined in. Hearts goalkeeping coach (Paul) Gallacher then got involved, as did various other members of the backroom staff.
"That then seemed to be diffused, but it all started again in the centre circle as players from both sides got involved with each other, arms were again raised, one of the unused Hibs subs seemed to be antagonising one of the Hearts players.
"It was very, very ugly and for quite a prolonged period of time."
Hearts interim boss Steven Naismith:
"I've got a 15-year career at the top level," Naismith said. "I've managed to pull things from some of the best managers around Britain.
"I've been in a role for the last two years under arguably Scotland's best manager [Steve Clarke] for a long period of time.
"I'm not naive to think I know everything, but what I have done is my homework. I've had two solid years of good coaching."
Asked about the post-match flare-up, Naismith said: "I'm not sure to be honest, I was shaking hands and getting out of there, I wasn't getting involved in anything.
"I know these situations can turn into things, especially in a derby with high emotions, but I was just buzzing to get the result and enjoy it with the fans."
Hibs boss Lee Johnson:
"I couldn't even tell you. It was a classic 'my dad's bigger than your dad' melee-type thing," Johnson said.
"It was a frustrating game in terms of the ebb and the flow because there was no flow. The time-wasting was quite embarrassing at times.
"It was a case of two managers who don't like each other very much and that's what started it.
"I'll keep the hot water bottle that was thrown at me for winter!
"There was a bit of needle but it happens, technical areas are a passionate place. It's not a problem, we move on.
"I've been a manager that long, you see it all in the technical area. It means nothing.
"He's had seven games as a manager and I just think the way he speaks is disrespectful to the previous manager.
"We'll see after 250 games if he's lucky enough to still be in charge of any club and if he still has that attitude."
