A tale of two goalkeepers that turned out to be a horror story

ANY hope the Easter Road side may have held of a longed-for reconciliation with the oldest pot in the game evaporated the moment their striker, Steven Fletcher, was ordered off for a challenge on Tynecastle defender Christophe Berra with only a third of the match completed.

That was complemented by the rarity of a goal from Hearts “striker” Christian Nade, only his second in 22 matches. That unusual phenomenon was itself embellished by an aberration from the Hibs goalkeeper, Yves Makalambay, which gave Nade the unmissable opportunity. Having replaced Makalambay with Grzegorz Szamotulski at the start of the second half, the Hibs manager, Mixu Paatelainen, would have been stupefied when the substitute eventually committed a similar piece of horrendous judgment to allow Hearts’ 18-year-old substitute, Gary Glen, to double the margin of victory in stoppage time.

Fletcher’s red-card upset a well-balanced, if largely untidy match, giving Hearts the numerical advantage which seemed to count when Nade, soon after, put the visitors in the lead. When the ball reached Andy Driver on the left side of the area, Makalambay rushed towards him without the slightest possibility of arriving in time to deny the Hearts player the time and space in which to use the ball. Driver cut the ball back to Nade, who had only to knock it in from six yards.

Paatelainen explained Szamotulski’s introduction at half-time as a result of a Makalambay injury. But the Pole seemed to have taken lessons from Makalambay. When Glen raced forward, Szamoltuski, like the Belgian, ran from his line. Glen won the touch, knocked the ball forward and rolled it in.

Hibernian: Makalambay (Szamoltuski 46); Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Murray; Johansson (O’Brien 66), Bamba, Stevenson, Rankin; Fletcher, Riordan (Nish 66). Subs not used: Yantorno, Chisholm.

Hearts: Balogh; Jonsson, Zaliukas, Berra, Wallace; Cesnauskis, Karipidis, Palazuelos, Obua (Glen 82), Driver; Nade (Stewart 90). Subs not used: Kello, Thomson, Templeton.