Dundee 1 Hearts 1

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Dundee and Hearts fought out a bruising 1-1 draw at Dens Park in a game in which the home manager Ivano Bonetti played an important part.

The home side took the lead when Argentinian Fabian Caballero latched on to Bonetti's 57th minute pass and, from 14 yards, curled an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net.

With five minutes remaining Bonetti became the sinner when he pulled back Juanjo in the penalty box to concede a spot kick, which Colin Cameron duly converted.

In the end a draw was probably a fair result between two evenly matched sides who put maximum effort into the 90 minutes.

First to threaten were the visitors in the fifth minute when Juanjo tried his luck with a shot from 20 yards.

But the Spaniard's effort went high over the bar, watched by the unconcerned Dundee keeper Rab Douglas.

The Edinburgh team continued to press for the opener and in the 12th minute Douglas had to react well to save a deflected shot from Lee Makel.

Dundee were playing some nice one-touch football but the final passes were all too easily cut out by the Hearts defence.

In the 16th minute Hearts' Scott Severin came close with a header from a Stevie Fulcombe free-kick as the away side continued to look more impressive.

Dundee should have taken the lead halfway through the first half when Georgi Nemsadze sent Cavallero clear through on goal with a defence splitting pass.

But the Argentinian hesitated, then stumbled and Hearts keeper Antti Niemi rushed out and saved.

Bonetti was clearly unhappy with his side's first half performance and brought himself on as a second half substitute for Nemsadze. It was a substitution which was to have obvious impact on the game.

In the 52nd minute Juan Hara should have scored when he found himself with only the keeper to beat. But Niemi was again quick off his line to block the striker's shot, as a goal looked certain.

The home side were looking dangerous every time they attacked and it was no great surprise when they took the lead after 57 minutes.

Bonetti threaded a great pass through the middle of the Hearts defence which found Cavallero, who gave Niemi no chance with a curling shot from 14 yards.

Minutes later Cameron had a great chance to level, but blasted over the bar as the visitors began to dominate.

And with five minutes to go the Edinburgh team got a well deserved equaliser.

Bonetti found himself caught out of position and had to pull back Juanjo in the box to prevent the little winger from scoring. There was no doubt it was a penalty and Cameron stepped up confidently to send Douglas the wrong way.

Teams

Dundee: Douglas, Smith, Tweed, Wilkie, McSkimming, Artero (Yates 90), Billio, Romano, Nemsadze (Bonetti 46),Caballero, Sara.

Subs Not Used: Langfield, Falconer, C. Coyne.

Booked: Nemsadze, Billio, Bonetti, Tweed.

Goals: Caballero 58.

Hearts: Niemi, Locke (Jackson 60), Pressley, Severin, Naysmith, Juanjo, Makel (Murray 78), Cameron, Fulton,McSwegan (O'Neil 60), Flogel.

Subs Not Used: Rousset, Simpson.

Booked: McSwegan, Flogel, Juanjo.

Goals: Cameron 86 pen.

Att: 6,779

Ref: Kenny Clark (Scotland).


Taken from sportinglife.com