The match at Tynecastle was very much a game of two halves.
In the opening period the home side couldn’t have been much worse.
It was very unusual from Craig Levein’s Hearts men, who are usually aggressive from the off in Gorgie.
However, they were so passive, sitting back and allowing Aberdeen to dominate proceedings for 45 minutes.
With Derek McInnes’ side 1-0 up at half-time, I didn’t see any way for Hearts to turn their performance around.
The Reds midfield duo, Graeme Shinnie and Lewis Ferguson, ran the show during the first period.
They got the ball into Greg Stewart and the other attacking players, although more chances could’ve been created to put Aberdeen out of sight.
For all their possession, there were still the season-long issues with creativity and cutting edge from the likes of loanee Stewart and Niall McGinn, who’s been good in recent outings but was lacking on Saturday.
Stewart has been the player who was at Pittodrie last season since returning, as opposed to the player who set the heather alight for Kilmarnock in the first half of this season.
Sam Cosgrove has still to prove he can score goals consistently over a longer period than a few weeks.
Gary Mackay-Steven being out injured isn’t helping either.
However, in defence, Scott McKenna and Andy Considine appeared to have the formula cracked for neutralising Uche Ikpeazu.
He’s a big boy, and physical centre-forwards have to be played with a measure of intelligence.
The worst thing you can do against players like that – and I mean no disrespect to those types of forwards – is to get sucked into the physical battle they crave.
Ikpeazu uses his size and strength to create openings for himself and his team-mates, so the key is to not play to those abilities.
However, it was all fine and dandy – one of McKenna and Considine was going with him, the other was dropping off … up until half-time.
It was one-way traffic after the break and any control or foothold in the game Aberdeen had was gone. Dominic Ball particularly at right-back really started to lose concentration and was caught out on a number of occasions.
But for poor finishing, Hearts could have had three or four.
The penalty Hearts were awarded, which allowed them to cancel out Connor McLennan’s opener, was criminal.
Where were the midfield as Jake Mulraney dribbled into the Dons box unhampered? The Reds’ dominance in this part of the park faded.
Hearts missed chances before the penalty and afterwards.
McKenna and Considine lost all ability to deal with Ikpeazu, which was also at the root of the Jambos’ resurgence.
He was dragging them all over the place and could have won a spot-kick himself.
However, his goal was a wonderful curled finish after he had battled for space.
Hearts play a straigthforward, narrow game and the spine of the Reds’ team just didn’t hold up to scrutiny in the second half.
If it had finished 4-1, Aberdeen couldn’t have complained. The home side thoroughly deserved the three points in the end.
It’s been a hallmark of Derek McInnes’ tenure as Dons boss that the team is difficult to dislodge once they’ve taken the lead. However, they certainly weren’t on Saturday.
It was a mysterious turn of events.
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