Hearts fell to a 3-1 defeat in Motherwell on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts took the lead through a headers courtesy of Paul McGinn and Stephen O’Donnell. Yutaro Oda pulled one back before Tom Sparrow sealed the points for the Fir Park side.
Head Coach Steven Naismith made four changes from the side that was narrowly edged in Plzen during midweek, with recent signing Andres Salazar handed a jersey for the first time. Alan Forrest, Blair Spittal and Yan Dhanda all came into the team, while Kenneth Vargas, Jorge Grant and Cammy Devlin moved to the bench, and James Penrice missed out altogether.
The game’s first real chance occurred on 12 minutes. A Motherwell corner was floated into the Hearts box towards the unmarked Dan Casey, but he could only steer a header wide of the target.
Immediately afterwards, Hearts threatened. Some intricate passing got the Jambos into the final third, culminating in Lawrence Shankland’s ball into the box finding Salazar in space, but the Colombian’s strike on goal was deflected over the bar.
A magnificent Craig Gordon save then kept the scores level. Tawanda Maswanhise’s cross found O’Donnell at the back door, he lobbed the ball into the six-yard box for Andy Halliday to head on target but the keeper turned it over the bar from point-blank range.
The warning signs weren’t heeded, however, and moments later the hosts took the lead when McGinn peeled away from his man at a free kick to meet a cross and send his diving header into the far corner of the net.
Gordon was called into action again after the hour mark. Maswanhise spun away with the ball at the egde of the box before lashing it towards goal but Gordon sprung to push it over the bar.
The Jambos then went close to equalising. Dhanda’s cross was headed clear but Spittal was first to react inside the box, latching on to the loose ball and striking it but Ewan Wilson was hand to clear it off the line.
Tony Watt was introduced five minutes into the second half and nearly made an instant impact, volleying a ferocious shot inside the box that Gordon did well to beat away.
Just before the hour mark, Hearts were again undone by a set piece. Lennon Miller’s free-kick into the box found O’Donnell, who powered a header beyond Gordon and into the back of the net.
Five minutes later the Jambos got a foot back into the game. Some good hold up play from Shankland inside the box saw him find substitute Yutaro Oda, and he took a touch before slotting low into the bottom corner.
Despite cranking up the pressure to find an equaliser, the next goal would come for the home side. A mix-up at the back saw the ball laid on a plate for substitute Sparrow and he fired beyond Gordon to make it 3-1.
Shankland saw a shot saved late on, though as Hearts continued to play their way to the Motherwell box, nothing seemed to fall in their favour and the hosts never really looked troubled.
A disappointing afternoon in North Lanarkshire, next up for the Gorgie boys is the second leg of the Europa League play-off against Viktoria Plzen at Tynecastle Park on Thursday.
Motherwell: Oxborough, O’Donnell, Gordon, Zdravkovski, Robinson (Sparrow, 73’), Halliday (Watt, 50’), Casey, McGinn, Wilson, Miller, Maswanhise (Seddon, 73’). Subs: Hegyi, Balmer, Kaleta, Ebiye, Wells, Ferrie.
Hearts: Gordon, Kent, Kingsley, Shankland, Rowles, Spittal (McKay, 70’), Forrest (Oda, 53’), Boateng, Dhanda (Vargas, 53’), Salazar (Boyce, 87’), Taylor (Devlin, 53’). Subs: Clark, Halkett, Oyegoke, Grant.
