Jammy point? || Motherwell 0- 0 Hearts

10,939 at Fir Park for todays match! An outstanding achievement!

A cold Saturday afternoon for game 3 in a week for the Steelmen. We welcomed Hearts to Fir Park, and we think if you said to both sets of supporters this would be a 1st vs 3rd clash we'd all call you mental. Still, a fantastic set of affairs for both sets of supporters.

The importance of the match highlighted in a fantastic turnout for both home and away, with a sold out away section for the Gorgie Boys, and a total attendance of 10,939. A fantastic turnout at Fir Park for a match outwith the Old Firm, so fair play to all for making the trip.

The Well go into this knowing a point minimum would see us go outright third, but a win would see us close the gap on Celtic to 2 points. The Well should be confident, having taken 13 points from their last 15. Going into this after a fantastic result against Hibernian in midweek, we hoped to complete a clean sweep of the capital. Hearts needed a win to keep their top of the table charge going, and hopefully for them open the gap at the top to 7 points. After our astonishing 3-3 draw with the Jambos in Edinburgh, I'm sure we all anticipated another fantastic encounter.

Line-ups

The Well made 4 changes from our victory against Hibs, with the lineup going back to a line-up we are used to seeing. Emmanuel Longelo, Lukas Fadinger, Callum Slattery and Callum Hendry all into the side; Liam Gordon, Tom Sparrow, Oscar Priestman and Regan Charles Cook dropping to the bench. Luca Ross was left out the side as we saw Apostolos Stamatelopoulos return to the bench. Another happy to inclusion to the subs bench was Stephen O'Donnell, returning from injury, and hoping to make his 200th appearance in Claret and Amber.

The Well changed shape again (if you go by every stat website you check). Playing in a 4-4-2, which on the surface was to match Hearts shape, and go man for man again.

As for the Jambos, they also changed their shape after last Sundays 1-0 loss to the Sheep up north. Hearts ditched the 5-4-1 for a 4-4-2 of their own. Out went; Michael Steinwender, Frankie Kent, Tomas Magnusson and Pierre Kabore. In came; Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, Blair Spittal and captain Lawrence Shankland. Harry Milne moved from his LWB role last week to a RM role this week to accommodate the inclusion of Kinglsey, with Claudio Braga moving up top to partner Shankland.

First Half heartbreak

The stats say it all for us. All the possession (62% in the first half) , but with only one shot the whole first 45. Hearts had half chances with Milne and Findlay in the first 20 minutes, but it was all Claret and Amber for around 35/40 minutes. And our chance came in the 23rd minute.

A ball up for Callum Hendry to win in the air lead to a free kick conceded by Cammy Devlin (a theme of the game). From that free kick, Lawrence Shankalnd went into the book for kicking the ball away. The Well, once the ball came back, played quickly, with the ball finding it's way to Elliot Watt. A touch, a look, and a clip into the box. Callum Hendry raced through, and outstretched, flicked the ball beyond the diving Schwolow. Jubilation in the home end, and none more so than Callum Hendry, scoring his first league goal, and second goal of the season, for the Well. However, remember when we said against Hibs: "We love VAR"? We lied. The offside check occurred, and Hendry was adjudged to be narrowly off.

5 minutes later some clever play from Hearts saw Kyziridis break through, and when Elliot Watt tried to win the ball, Kyziridis went down. The ref didn't buy it, and a yellow card was issued for diving. Elijah Just had a chance just before the 40 minute mark, but it was tame and easy enough for Shwolow. Then, the momentum swung Hearts' way. A "backs to the wall" job followed for the Steelmen, with Hearts having 3 shots before HT, but we held firm. Hearts may have ruled this half in terms of xG and shots (0.21 to our measly 0.03, with 5 shots on goal to our one), but we had the only shot on target in the first half. A tight game still on.

Callum Hendry battles with Blair Spittal

Second half switch

The second half saw neither side make any changes, and the stats completely flipped on it's head. Hearts ended up edging out the possession stat this half (52% to 48%), however the Well had more shots (8 to 4) more on target (4 to 1) more big chances (2 to 0) and a better xG (0.33 to 0.12).

The first chance of the second half fell to Kyziridis. The Greek winger doing what he does best, coming inside and having a pop. Koutroumbis got the block and conceded the corner. The next chance for the Well is a rued one we believe. A ball in from Maswanhise found Just, whose header back across goal seemed easy enough for Schwolow. However, the keeper spilled it, and as Stephen Kingsley goes to protect the ball initially, Hendry comes round the back and nudges the ball back towards Just. A moment of confusion between Schowlow and Kingsley sees the ball just....sit in the box? Just realises this eventually, however is outmuscled by Kingsley until Schwolow can collect his dropped ball.

Another corner for the Jam Tarts this time saw Shankland win a header at the back post unchallenged. A looping header dips over Ward and looks destined for the back of net. Our saviour this time? Callum Hendry, a left footed overhead kick clearing the ball just off the line.

A minute or two later, Shankland was dispossessed by Longelo, and we broke forward. Slattery strode forward, before cutting back and passing infield to Watt. Watt in turn keeps the switch going, out wide to Callum Hendry. Hendry rolls it back to Watt and makes the run, as Watt dinks the ball back through. The ball avoids Hendry and Just, but finds its way to Maswanhise, who coolly dinks it over the keeper and into the net. No need for VAR on this one folks. He knew it, and we think everyone in Fir Park might have known it as well, but clearly offside. 2-0 in our hearts though, right?

Callum Hendry seemed to be struggling and limping a bit after his goal-line heroics, so JBA used his subs. Hendry making way for our skill king Ibrahim Said. With no out and out striker on the pitch, this meant some movement. Said moved over to the right hand side, with Just joining Tawanda up front. and it nearly paid off. Some calm passing saw McGinn receive the ball in the midfield. McGinn rolled it to Just, who with some clever moment, broke free of Stuart Findlay and raced through one-on-one with Schowlow. The shot however, straight at the keeper, and saved.

The well onslaught continued. Smart play on the right hand side saw Koutroumbis in possession on the corner of the box. He rolled it back to Lukas Fadinger, who took a touch, and lined up a strike. The moment it left his boot, it appeared destined for the top corner of the net, but Schwolow somehow stretched up and poked the ball out for a corner.

A minute later, from the corner, quick play inside saw Cammy Devlin commit another foul and finally receiving a yellow. Up stepped Callum Slattery, with one thing very clearly on his mind. His resulting free kick takes the slightest deflection off the wall, and again seemed destined for the net, only for Shwolow to again, claw it out for a corner. The last of the clear cut chances, and the game finishes 0-0. A positive spot for the Well is toward the end, Stephen O'Donnell did return from injury, coming on to make his 200th appearance for the Well.

Jens salutes the fans at FT. Click the pic to hear his thoughts

Stats

So we've looked at stats per half, to get an overall of how the game has went per half, but how does it translate overall?

The Well had more of the ball, having 55% to Hearts' 45%. Both teams had 9 shots in the game, however the Well had 5 shots on target in comparison to Hearts lonely 1. Alexander Schwolow was forced into making 5 saves from that, however Ward again found himself unbothered, not making a single save. Now the stat which we alluded to earlier re Cammy Devlin. The Well gave away 4 fouls, while Hearts committed 14. However, 4 bookings to the Jambos, while the Well saw 2 yellow cards their way. One of which was Longelo delaying the restart. It was highlighted against Hibs our extraordinary passing record, and today we may not have hit those heights but we dominated again. 588 passes to Heart's 461 (with 86.2% accuracy to Hearts 82%.

At first glance, a game we perhaps should've nicked from the current League leaders.

Before we begin with the Well ratings, we feel fairness is due here. Overall Player of the Match has to go to Alexander Schwolow. Some fantastic saves keeping Hearts in the match, and overall without him, the Well win no question in our view. Anyway, on to the good guys ratings and the Wells Player of the Match (in our opinion of course);