Aberdeen 0-0 Heart of Midlothian – BBC Sport

Aberdeen and Hearts failed to score a single goal between despite a lively 90 minutes.

Niall McGinn twice had efforts blocked in the first half, and Shay Logan, Mark Reynolds and Peter Pawlett all went close in the second half.

However Hearts has chances of their own, with Tony Watt spurning a late chance when he put the ball over the bar from 12 yards.

For Robbie Neilson’s men it ends a run of three straight defeats.

These are always hard fought fixtures between the sides who finished second and third last season, and the physical strength Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has added to his squad meant they weren’t going to be pushed around this time

The Jambos picked up their first point after a tough week when they lost at home to Celtic and St Johnstone, following on from the Europa League exit to Birkirkara.

Hearts striker Tony Watt squandered a couple of chances to win it for them in the second half while Peter Pawlett nodded wide to blow the Dons best opportunity to take full points they might have shaded.

The Dons matched up in another bruising battle between the teams while showing more pace and imagination going forward for long spells.

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Hearts did come into the game more as an attacking force as the match progressed and John Souttar actually missed the clearest opportunity created in the first 45 minutes when heading Sam Nicholson’s free-kick wide.

It was a much more even at the start of second half. Watt twice threatened with powerful surges forward but on both occasions the impressive Anthony O’Connor got back to the former Celtic striker in time to make vital blocks to cancel out the danger.

At the other end McGinn continued to be a menace down the flanks, but all too often his final delivery lacked the quality needed to make the most of the build-up play on an afternoon where both sides worked hard to cancel each other out.

It’s an indication of how fiercely they competed that Hearts had five players booked while two Dons players were yellow carded as overall the sides found it tough to create any clear goal scoring chances.

There was certainly no doubting the commitment of the players but there was a lack of composure where it really mattered in front of goal as Pawlett showed when heading Shay Logan’s cross wide from six yards.

Then at the other end Watt cleverly made space for a shot in the Dons penalty area only to make a real hash of the chance by thumping his shot well wide of the target.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: “We started brightly, asked questions of Hearts and had a lot of pressure while winning a lot of battles and keeping them at arms length.

“But Hearts deserve credit as they defended well in the first half and created one or two good chances of their own in the second half so they deserved a draw in the end.

“We have now played four games in the space of nine days which has been a huge ask for my players, and the consequences were shown in the last half hour as even players like Ryan Jack and Graeme Shinnie were running on empty.

“Fatigue set in and now we can look forward to giving the players a few days off to rest up a bit before we start working towards the visit of Partick Thistle.”

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson: “It was a tough game and I thought that Aberdeen had the better of the first half while we had the better of the second half.

“Tony Watt had a chance to win it for us but I think fatigue played a part in him missing it as it was his first full 90 minutes in a long time, but he showed what he will bring to this team.

“We have had a tough start to the season playing the champions at Tynecastle then going to Perth and Aberdeen in the first week.

“Those are the teams that finished first, second and fourth in the league last season so they are some of the toughest games we could have got.

“We could have done better in these matches but we have got a point at a difficult venue and now we look to build on that against Caley Thistle next weekend now.”