Hearts FC

Hearts consigned Aberdeen to a third straight defeat, despite having Laryea Kingston sent off at Pittodrie.

The midfielder saw red following a dangerous tackle on Fraser Fyvie early in the second half.

But the Dons were unable to take advantage of their superior manpower and fell behind when Eggert Jonsson’s overhead kick flew into the net.

Aberdeen rarely threatened and their delivery into the box posed few problems to the Hearts rearguard.

The victory for Hearts, their third on the trot, takes them eight points clear of seventh-placed Aberdeen, who have a game in hand.

An early slip by Hearts full-back Dawid Kucharski almost allowed Aberdeen in on goal but Lee Wallace mopped up the danger.

Jonsson blazed over the Aberdeen crossbar as both sides struggled to carve out decent scoring chances.

Aberdeen’s Ricky Foster fired into the side-netting after being presented with possession on the edge of the Hearts box before, at the other end, there were faint appeals for a penalty following Gary McDonald’s challenge on Ryan Stevenson.

Kucharski limped off injured and and was soon replaced by Kingston.

Stevenson’s shot was claimed by goalkeeper Jamie Langfield seconds before the referee’s whistle ended the opening period.

Hearts’ injury woes continued after the interval as Marius Zaliukas left the field for treatment on what appeared to be a hamstring injury and, while the defender was off the park, the visitors’ numbers were further reduced by Kingston’s dismissal.

The Ghana midfielder caught Fyvie with a high challenge and was promptly ordered off by referee Willie Collum.

Paul Mulrooney was sent on in place of Zaliukas before Darren Mackie’s flicked header was collected by Hearts keeper Janos Balogh.

Charlie Mulgrew tried to take Balogh by surprise by shooting from a free-kick wide on the left but the keeper positioned himself well to hold the attempt.

Hearts took a surprise lead in the 64th minute when Calum Elliot’s shot cannoned high into the air off Mulgrew and no-one challenged Jonsson as he acrobatically volleyed past Langfield.

Elliot cut in from the left and fired a shot at Langfield as Hearts looked to close the game out.

A mis-hit shot by Mulgrew and effort wide by substitute Michael Paton typified Aberdeen’s frustration in front of goal.

Wallace was the next Hearts player to receive treatment after a clash of heads with team-mate David Obua produced a gash on the side of the full-back’s forehead but he soon returned to play sporting a bandage to help his side see out the final few minutes.

Hearts recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since December as they beat Hamilton Accies at Tynecastle.

Marius Zaliukas headed over the visitors’ crossbar during a first half of few chances.

Flavio Paixao was denied the opener by Hearts goalkeeper Marian Kello after the interval.

David Obua headed the home side in front 19 minutes into the second half and David Templeton doubled the lead with his first Hearts goal late on.

The result takes Hearts to within four points of fifth-placed Motherwell while Hamilton remain one point above Scottish Premier League bottom club Falkirk.

A dangerous Suso Santana corner was diverted away from the Hamilton goal by keeper Tomas Cerny in an early Hearts attack.

After Jason Thomson had fired over the Hamilton goal, referee Steve Conroy waved away the home side’s claims for a penalty following Simon Mensing’s challenge on Calum Elliot.

Another Santana corner caused panic in the Hamilton defence as Elliot tried to pounce but the ball was eventually cleared.

The visitors moved to the other end and Flavio Paixao’s dipping volley from a tight angle cleared the far post.

Zaliukas failed to hit the target with a header after connecting with Suso’s corner on the half-hour mark.

Accies then almost caught Hearts out with a swift counter-attack, which ended with Flavio Paixao putting a teasing ball into the box that neither James McArthur nor Marco Paixao could convert.

Hearts made a positive start to the second half and Eggert Jonsson’s cross was flicked on to Lee Wallace, who could not keep his shot down.

The home side continued to press and Thomson headed wide from Arvydas Novikovas’ corner.

Moments later, the Paixao brothers combined to good effect with Marco playing Flavio through for a shot that was blocked by Kello.

Novikovas set up Wallace for another strike at goal and the full-back’s effort just cleared the crossbar.

But Hearts finally made the breakthrough when Ryan Stevenson’s inventive set-up work was rewarded by Obua’s headed finish.

The goal roused Hamilton into action and Alex Neil’s shot was saved by Kello.

An error by Brian Easton led to Hearts’ second as the on-loan Burnley full-back knocked a bouncing ball over his own keeper, allowing Suso’s replacement Templeton to run the ball into the empty net with 10 minutes remaining.

Easton tried to atone for his mistake with a stinging volley that produced another impressive save by Kello.

Laryea Kingston had earlier come on for Novikovas and the Ghanaian came close to getting a third for Hearts with a controlled volley that Cerny palmed away.

With the match in injury time, referee Conroy turned down more penalty appeals after Hearts players claimed David Elebert had handled in the box and Kingston fired another effort over before the end.