Hearts defeated Premier League side Sunderland 3-0 at Tynecastle Park in a testimonial match for Craig Gordon.
On a day celebrating the career and achievements of a Scottish football great, Claudio Braga's first half header was followed by second half swipes from Lawrence Shankland and Alexandros Kyziridis in a dominant performance from the men in maroon.
The result sees Hearts sail through pre-season and the Premier Sports Cup group stage with an undefeated record ahead of our opening day match with Aberdeen on August 4th.
Derek McInnes made tweaks to the side that defeated Dumbarton last time out, with Craig Gordon between the posts – Oisin McEntee, Cammy Devlin, and Calem Nieuwenhof in the middle – with Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga up front.
Both teams formed a guard of honour for Craig at walk-out, with the 'keeper substituted inside the first minute, still nursing a neck injury that has restricted his appearances in pre-season, and received a loving reception from both sets of supporters.
Sunderland carved out the first chance after eight minutes; Enzo Le Fee carried the ball to just before the edge of the box and let rip with a ranged effort - taking a deflection off a maroon shirt and zipping into the gloves of Zander Clark.
The Jambos claimed the lead after 11 minutes. Oisin McEntee superbly brushed Niall Huggins off the ball, headed for the byline and whipped a fine ball across goal, with Claudio Braga popping up with a smashing header to make it 1-0.
Hearts started to enjoy the lion's share of possession for the next ten minutes, but couldn't quite break through on goal; Braga's side footed effort down the throat of Simon Moore after 19 minutes being the only chance of note.
The remainder of the half proved to be a tame affair, with neither side really able to get their foot on the ball and make things happen - albeit, Hearts continued to shade possession.
HT: Heart of Midlothian 1-0 Sunderland
Two changes were made after the break with the introduction of Michael Steinwender and James Wilson, with the latter making an almost instant impact on proceedings.
The Scotland international contested a fine foot race with Dan Ballard, but the red and white shirt blocked his attempt on goal before he could trouble Simon Moore in the Mackem goal.
Moments later, the Jambos went close again. Good running from Adam Forrester saw the ball brought to Lawrence Shankland's plate inside the box, with the forward's clean swipe at goal flashing past the post by a whisker.
Hearts were aggressive and on the front foot, going close again on the hour mark. Oisin McEntee's clearance up the park saw a calamitous mix up in the Sunderland defence; allowing James Wilson to break on goal before seeing his attempt poked wide.
All signs pointed to a second, and it duly arrived after 62 minutes.
Blair Spittal threaded the ball across the park to a waiting Lawrence Shankland on the edge of the box, with his spectacular swipe crashing into the Sunderland net via a deflection.
Hearts were rampant by then, and almost bagged a third after 75 minutes as Alan Forrest chopped inside on his left and curled towards goal - with a deflection off a red and white shirt denying him a goal.
With just five minutes to go, Hearts got a third in bizarre circumstances.
A clumsy pass across goal from Noah Sadiki saw the ball zipped straught to the feet of Alexandros Kyziridis in acres of space - allowing the Greek winger a simple tap in to send Hearts home and hosed with an impressive win.
Hearts: Gordon (Clark 1'), Kent (Steinwender 45'), Halkett, Nieuwenhof (Spittal 22') (Forrest 74'), Shankland (Kabangu 74'), Braga (Wilson 45'), Devlin (Dhanda 90'), Milne (Kingsley 74'), Findlay, McEntee (Kartum 85'), Forrester (Kyziridis 63')
Subs: Clark, Fulton, Kingsley, Kabangu, Steinwender, Spittal, Forrest, Dhanda, Wilson, Kartum, Kerjota, Musa, Vargas, Kyziridis
Attendance: 17,756
