After Hearts suffered yet another setback, experienced goalie Craig Gordon wore the most dejected expression when he addressed the media for the second consecutive weekend.
The Tynecastle team lost out on the top six of the Premiership after drawing 0-0 against Motherwell seven days ago. On Saturday, the sorrow was greater, of that there can be no doubt, following Hearts’ 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
After defender Michael Steinwender was sent off for denying Topi Keskinen a good goal-scoring opportunity at the 44-minute mark, the Jambos were reduced to 10 men. After Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland cancelled out Aberdeen’s first goal, an unlucky own goal by Gordon, the score was now 1-1. They advanced to the 26th minute of extra time mostly unharmed before the roof collapsed.
Hearts’ resistance came to an end when midfielder Cammy Devlin was sent off for a second bookable offence, leaving them with just nine men. Gordon made a brilliant stop to keep Jack Milne out two minutes after that red card, but Oday Dabbagh was there to grab the rebound and send Aberdeen to the final. For Hearts, it was a depressing conclusion.
In fairness to their squad, the vast majority of them came through the mixed zone afterwards. Such a duty is not easy given the circumstances. There will be no European football for Hearts next season. The third-placed finish of 2023/24 is now a distant memory. Six points ahead of the relegation play-off, they need to beat Dundee next to assuage any concerns of being dragged into a battle beneath them. Pressure is building on head coach Neil Critchley, who is yet to win a ‘big match’ since taking office in October.
It could have been so different had Hearts held out for penalties. They defended exceptionally well with ten men but it was a different story with nine. The Jambos took umbrage with referee John Beaton’s decision to give Devlin a second booking, claiming it was a very harsh call.
“I thought we did enough, and we would have done if we’d stayed at 10 [men],” lamented Gordon. “I think going down to nine has killed us. I can’t believe that’s a second yellow card. For everything that’s gone in that game, for that to be a yellow card… It’s killed us.
“The second goal comes from the area Cammy’s been defending. Nobody’s even asking for a second yellow card for that. That’s a massive reason why we haven’t managed to take it to pens.
“I’m not going to come here and slate the referee’s performance, that’s up to him. They’ll look back at their performance and evaluate it. We’ve got to do what we can do, and I think our performance was as good as we could have done in the circumstances. I think we’ve been let down a little bit by that but all we can do is focus on ourselves.”
Aberdeen limited by Hearts
Critchley reconfigured his Hearts team at half time, bringing on centre-halves Frankie Kent and Craig Halkett and moving to a low defensive block. It was a good call, as Aberdeen only properly tested Gordon in extra time, limited and stifled by a disciplined opponent.
“We were good in terms of how we kept our shape and how we managed to stay in the game for a long period of time, and looked like we’d done enough to get through to penalties, where I felt we would go on and win the game,” continued Gordon.
“I felt confident going into that, I’d made some saves in the game, I think the pressure would have been on Aberdeen. I was looking forward to it but we didn’t manage to see out the last few minutes.
“I thought the boys did brilliant. We had a really good shape, defended really well. The back three who came in haven’t played a lot of football and they were excellent. It looked like Aberdeen were running out of ideas a little bit towards the end. It felt like we had the upper hand even though we were defending, the boys felt good.”
It was a particularly sore one for Devlin, who had scrapped away as he often does in a busy midfield battle. The contact he made on Dante Polvara was minimal and while probably a free-kick, the decision to book him for a genuine attempt to clear the ball rankled with so many of a Hearts persuasion.
“He is [gutted],” explained Gordon. “He’s going to be involved in so many of those tussles throughout the game. There might be fouls either way, but when two players go in with their feet high, I think it’s a soft foul. It could quite easily have gone the other way, he’s kicked the bottom of his foot and it’s a difficult one to take.
“They both clashed together at the edge of the box and the referee has seen it as a free kick, and the referee has seen enough to give a red card. I don’t think it was a bad foul, I don’t think it was stopping a dangerous attack, I don’t know quite what it fits into to be another yellow card. Maybe a foul, but these fouls happen 30-40 times a game, all over the place.”
Hearts futures of Gordon and Critchley
None of that changes the narrative around Critchley, whose future is very much in the spotlight. The team’s performance suggested the squad are behind their boss. “I think we gave everything we could today,” said Gordon. “Every player who was on that pitch has given everything to try and get through today. I think that shows that the group is very much together and trying to do the best they can. It’s hard not to feel hard done by.”
Gordon has an opportunity. His final chance to take home a trophy with Hearts was on Saturday. His contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and he gave a succinct response when asked if he had made any headway on his own future. “I’m just playing as many games as I can until the end of the season and see what happens,” the 42-year-old remarked.
