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hopes of securing the Scottish Premiership title a major blow as they secured a 2-1 win over them at Tynecastle on Monday. Danny Rohl’s visitors knew that only victory would do if they were to keep their own title hopes alive, and they set themselves on their way through Dujon Sterling’s deflected strike in the 23rd minute.
The Gers largely kept Derek McInnes’ men at bay throughout the first 45 minutes, but it was a different story in the second half, as Stephen Kingsley netted an equaliser in the 54th minute. Rangers dominated for large spells at Tynecastle, but couldn’t make it count, and they were punished with 71 minutes on the clock, when Lawrence Shankland produced a crisp first-time finish to leave Rangers seven points adrift of top spot.
Shankland put himself about in the opening half an hour, as he tried to set the tone for his side in one of the biggest games of their season. However, the 30-year-old overstepped the mark when he followed through on Emmanuel Fernandez after the Rangers defender had moved the ball on, and was promptly shown a yellow card by Beaton.
The striker’s caution came in the 37th minute of the action, but he arguably should have entered the referee’s book much earlier in proceedings. Shankland committed an almost identical foul on Sterling in the 24th minute, as he carried on closing down the right-back and barrelled into him long after the ball had gone.
Neither were overly serious fouls, but it was clear that he was trying to ruffle the feathers of the visitors’ backline, and Beaton should have cracked down on it much earlier. A yellow card for Shankland’s first challenge on Sterling would have quickly made it clear that the man in the middle knew what he was trying to do.
He picked up a booking in the 80th minute of Monday’s clash, as he steamed into Alexandros Kyziridis when a loose ball broke on the halfway line. Beaton rushed in to brandish the yellow card, but he undoubtedly should have taken more time to consider the true severity of the tackle.
Replays showed that Fernandez won the ball with a clean challenge, while his follow-through was also low and in control at all times, which took the notion of it being reckless out of the equation. It was little more than a forceful challenge from the centre-back, but it was not made with excessive force and didn’t put his opponent at risk of injury. Stephen Kingsley finds the equaliser for Hearts against Rangers.
It’s GAME ON here at Tynecastle, watch it all live on Sky 📺 With that in mind, he could certainly count himself unlucky to have gone into the book, especially since it left him walking a tightrope for the rest of the evening. The Hearts faithful were growing increasingly frustrated with Beaton throughout the 90 minutes, as they felt that decisions were consistently going against their team.
A prime example of this came in the 69th minute, when Youssef Chermiti went to ground easily under a challenge from Craig Halkett in the centre circle. The Hearts defender had come out of the backline to meet the striker as he received the ball with his back to goal, and replays appeared to suggest that it was little more than strong centre-back play from the veteran.
Instead, Beaton promptly awarded a free-kick to the visitors, a decision which left the Tynecastle crowd in uproar, before they jeered the award of a Hearts free-kick just moments later. It was a minor decision in the context of a hugely important game, but it perfectly highlighted the way that the referee’s performance had built up frustration in the stands.
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