ABERDEEN'S sizzling second-half performance hoisted them into fourth place in the Premiership as two stand-out strikes, where the Dons showed flashes of brilliance, had manager Jim Goodwin recognising that normal service had been resumed.
This was a tough, gritty and compelling game in which Luis “Duk” Lopes, until now more of a bit-part player, hammered out a message to Goodwin that he has what is required to compete with the best.
His late strike burnished an eye-catching display of attacking football as the former Benfica players showed he could also be a provider, presenting team-mate Vicente Besuijen with a gilt-edges chance to seal the win, and the effervescent front man did not disappoint.
"I'm delighted to Duk on a personal note,” Goodwin said. “He came in late for pre-season and has been playing catch-up but we're comfortable now with the level of fitness he is at.
"We didn't bring him to the club to be an impact player off the bench. We believe he has great potential and it's up to the coaching staff and me to help him.
"Hopefully in the years to come the Aberdeen fans will see the best of him.”
Goodwin thought back to the catastrophe of Tannadice last weekend when Dundee United dismantled his lethargic outfit and refused to demonstrate triumphalism last night.
"I don't want to get too excited about the result,” he said, “as we know how quickly you can get brought back to the earth in this game.
“Against Hearts, we had more composure and a bit more belief. We were playing against a very good team in Hearts and they have good players at the top end of the pitch in Lawrence Shankland, Stephen Humphrys and Barry Mackay.
"We maybe showed them too much respect in the first half but we scored two terrific goals and could have had more. To win 2-0 at home is a perfect response to what happened last weekend.”
It was “Duk”, a hot handful for the Gorgie men who took the plaudits and he might have had a couple more but for the expertise of Tynecastle keeper Craig Gordon, although the visitors were disappointed to go in at the interval without scorned chances as boss Robbie Neilson bemoaned that, because of a number of injuries, he had to make do with a makeshift squad, weary because of their Europa Conference League commitments.
A pragmatic Neilson said: “We had some top, top chances to score goals but we didn’t take them, and I felt we gave up two poor goals. We didn’t defend well.
“We have a makeshift team at the minute, we’re down to the bare bones, we have lost another two players today [Andy Halliday was taken off injured and Peter Haring was concussed near the close of play] and it’s obviously disappointing.
“We’re asking guys to fit in and play in different positions and you can see there are certain aspects that they are finding difficult.
“And then we end up getting caught.
“We just need to stick together and grind through it. We have a massive game next week against Celtic at home and we need to make sure we are ready for that.
Following their recent travails, the “where do we go from here?” question and others along those lines would have been running through the minds of the respective fans at sunny Pittodrie where the Jambos have not covered themselves in glory in recent years.
Indeed, their last win there was in May 2016. And still they wait. We were reminded of how physical fixtures between these sides could be after only sixty seconds of play as referee Don Robertson produced a yellow card for Aberdeen’s Jayden Richardson, more than a little robust in his touchline challenge on Alex Cochrane. There were six bookings in total, three for each side, an indication of the competiveness of this game.
It was the visitors who looked likely to find the net as the pace reached frantic levels and defenders were extra-keen not to make mistakes. The first opportunity, in the 29th minute, fell to Cochrane courtesy of Humphrys, but a rapid response by Dons’ keeper Kelle Roos blocked the Hearts’ man’s effort, while the former set-up Shankland close to goal only for him to shoot past.
Then, as the clocked ticked-down towards the interval, Lopes was foiled by Gordon and, at the other end, Kelle Roos, rescued his side with a save from Shankland.
There was pressure play from both sides with the hosts’ extra vitality bringing the winner in 74 minutes. Playing into the goal in front of the Red Shed, the stand packed with Pittodrie choristers, Lopes, whose trickery had irked the visitors throughout the game, provided the breakthrough.
Ylber Ramadani’s wonderful forward pass triggered Duk’s antenna and his finish was sublime.
Five minutes later, the 22-year-old became provider and when he handed an opportunity to Vicente Besuijen, who had replaced Leighton Clarkson less than ten minutes earlier, the Colombian-born striker whacked the ball into the Hearts goal.
