Hearts manager Derek McInnes hailed his players for digging deep in to their reserves to earn a hard-fought 3-1 win over Motherwell and keep their title dream alive.
Emmanuel Longelo had given the visitors a deserved lead at Tynecastle on the hour mark, before Claudio Braga’s instinctive overhead kick five minutes later levelled things up.
Lawrence Shankland stepped up to score from the spot with three minutes remaining to put the league leaders ahead, before substitute Pierre Landry Kabore settled the nerves with a clincher in stoppage-time.
The result maintains Hearts’ three-point advantage over second-placed Celtic ahead of the league split, with Rangers looking to move to within one with a victory at Falkirk this afternoon.
Captain Lawrence Shankland celebrates after scoring Hearts’ second goal against Motherwell
‘I thought we edged a really tight game,’ McInnes said. ‘They’re a good side, Motherwell.
‘We feel that we were good enough in the game to win it. There’s been a lot of teams that have won a championship who have to dig it out and get results and find a way to win when the question is hanging over them.
‘When the question was hanging over our team today and they’ve dragged themselves [through].
‘There’s been a lot of people who deserve a lot of praise for getting the club to where it’s at now, but the players are the biggest factors in all of that.
‘If anybody thought that [the players were running out of gas], the answer was there. They just smash you right between the eyes and get the win. Job done, brilliant.’
‘If they want to sing, they sing. A lot of them are wanting to sing and get behind the team.It’s not easy getting it to this stage and it’s important that we just try and keep it going another five games and see where it takes us.’
‘Tynecastle’s brilliant now,’ he said. ‘I love it. It’s special.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t change them for anything.
Hearts striker Claudio Braga equalises against Motherwell with an overhead kick
‘Shankland’s only going to get better, Braga is just effervescent.
I think there is an element of trust in the players and for the fans. We know we’re not perfect, we weren’t brilliant today, but I think they still trust the team that something’s going to happen.
‘We’re going to need all that and a bit more. We’re only going to get to do Tynecastle two more times during the season.
‘I wish we could do a lot more because I absolutely love turning up on Saturday morning.
‘I’m not going to be a manager that’s going to ask the fans to get involved. I’m not going to ask 50-year-old men to sing.
‘If they want to sing, they sing. A lot of them are wanting to sing and get behind the team. It’s not easy getting it to this stage and it’s important that we just try and keep it going another five games and see where it takes us.’
Pierre Landry Kabore fires home to secure the three points against Motherwell
After both finding the net on Saturday, Braga and Shankland have now netted 27 league goals between them this season, and their manager is delighted to have them at his disposal.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t change them for anything. Shankland’s only going to get better, Braga is just effervescent.
‘He feeds off this crowd. He doesn’t give defenders a minute. He’s on a mission to get as many goals as well.
‘That gives us all real comfort and a bit of optimism.’
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou felt Hearts’ penalty award was suspect
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou questioned the decision to award Hearts a late penalty after Stephen Welsh was adjudged to have kicked Kabore’s head inside the area.
‘I think you can argue every time there’s contact that there’s a foul,’ he said. ‘Then it’s about the amount of contact, the speed of contact, the situation.
‘I don’t know what he’s going to win if there’s no contact from lying down and dribbling with his head inside the box.
‘But you can argue that and when he’s decided that that is a penalty, it’s hard. But I think it’s very soft.
‘But it’s out of my hands, so there’s nothing we can do about it. And then from there obviously it became difficult because it was so late in the game to counter and then obviously it becomes very direct and a little bit frantic, which is not necessarily in our favour.’
