When titles are won, there are moments that are considered pivotal on the road to glory. Should Hearts go all the way this season, Craig Gordon may just have produced one of the most memorable.
On a day when the Tynecastle side had to win ugly, the veteran goalkeeper’s stoppage-time save from Emile Acquah was a thing of beauty. Did someone mention Gordon Banks’ famous stop from Pele? That may have been stretching it a bit but, one thing was for sure, Gordon’s intervention saw the Jambos walk way from Dens Park with three points instead of one.
It was another remarkable chapter in the tale of a man who has been defying the odds for as long as most of us can remember.
Claudio Braga’s 27th-minute strike had given the Premiership leaders a precious lead. However, when Alexander Schwolow was dismissed on the stroke of half-time, some travelling fans may have feared the worst. Not when Craig Gordon is waiting in the wings.
The 43-year-old came off the bench for his first league appearance of the campaign, and his first act was to get down to his left to make a brilliant save from Cam Congreve’s free-kick.
Even that would be overshadowed by his Banks-like stop from Acquah’s header in the third and final minute of added-on time.
Substitute Craig Gordon pulls off his stunning stoppage-time save to earn Hearts a vital win
Referee Ryan Lee sends off Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow after a VAR check
Many of Gordon’s saves over the years have defied belief. This was potentially the pick of the bunch. It summed up his character and, indeed, the character of Derek McInnes’ Hearts side as a whole.
They are capable of winning in all sorts of ways, in all sorts of conditions, which is more than can be said for the chasing pack. Look, it’s still asking a lot for Hearts to keep Celtic and Rangers at bay, especially with the Old Firm set to spend big over the coming weeks. Despite Tony Bloom’s investment, the Edinburgh side are operating in a different league when it comes to financial muscle.
For now, though, this is undoubtedly the best and most efficient squad in the Premiership. A few tweaks here and there are perhaps all that’s required.
Mind you, Dundee will feel they should have dealt a huge blow to their opponents’ title chances. Having come into the contest off the back of three straight wins, this was a golden opportunity missed.
Let’s be honest, you’d have got long odds on Steven Pressley still being in a job at this stage of the season. Indeed, there were legitimate question marks over whether he would even make it to the first league match having been dumped out of the Premier Sports Cup in the summer.
He has slowly won over the Dens support, and the players are clearly buying into his ideas as well. They still lack a cutting edge in the final third – having a fit and firing Simon Murray would help – but there is more than enough about them to suggest they can keep well clear of Livingston and Kilmarnock.
A top-six spot may well be out of reach. You would be surprised, though, if they were involved in a relegation scrap.
They should have been ahead within 90 seconds here. Tony Yogane flew past Jordi Altena on the left-hand side before lifting his head and picking out Billy Koumetio eight yards out.
The big man got a clean connection on his header yet couldn’t direct it away from Schwolow. Had the effort been a foot either side, it would have been a different outcome.
It took the league leaders the best part of 20 minutes to settle. Even then, it was fairly uninspiring stuff.
Cammy Devlin and Beni Baningime couldn’t get going in the middle of the park, while Lawrence Shankland barely got a sniff up top. It didn’t make for great viewing, truth be told.
When Alexandros Kyziridis got the better of Ryan Astley on a couple of occasions, the end product wasn’t up to scratch. Not one of his better days.
The Greek at least offered something, which is far more than could be said for Tomas Magnusson on the opposite flank.
After a slow start to life in Edinburgh, the summer signing has done well to force his way into this side over the past couple of months. He is far more suited to a central role, however, than on the wing.
The sooner new recruit Islam Chesnokov can get up to speed, the better. The Kazakh international looks like an intriguing prospect, and Hearts fans will have to wait a little longer to see him in action after he failed to appear off the bench here.
Hearts took the lead on the 27-minute mark, and there was more than a hint of controversy about the goal.
Devlin stole the best part of 15 yards before taking a quick free-kick to Shankland, who then played the ball first-time to Braga.
The Portuguese took a wonderful touch to engineer half a yard on the edge of the box, and arrowed a laser-like shot beyond Jon McCracken for his ninth league goal of the season.
With seconds remaining of a gruelling first half, Dundee were given a lifeline. Having got on the end of an Ashley Hay flick, Yogane was taken down by Schwolow on the edge of the box as he tried to sidestep the keeper.
Referee Ryan Lee was summoned to the VAR monitor for another look, and brandished a straight red card to the Hearts No1 for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Considering that two Hearts players were in close proximity, it seemed harsh. Cue Gordon’s arrival, and an immediate save from the resultant free-kick.
Claudio Braga celebrates scoring the only goal in Hearts’ 1-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park
Dundee may have enjoyed more of the ball after the restart, but they did precious little with it.
Stuart Findlay and Craig Halkett – as they’ve done pretty much all season – dealt with everything thrown into their area. Surely they, as well as their No2 goalie, are in Steve Clarke’s thoughts ahead of the World Cup this summer?
This wasn’t a backs-to-the-wall job by any stretch, rather another display which perfectly illustrated Hearts’ ability to get the job done, regardless of circumstances.
Koumetio did pop up unmarked on one occasion and couldn’t keep his header from close range down, while Drey Wright also went close as stoppage-time loomed.
The stop made by Gordon with the last action of the game was right out of the top drawer, diving low to his left to claw Acquah’s header away from danger.
The roar which greeted it from the away end was the loudest of the day.
