If ever there was an evening which suggested title glory is written in the stars for Hearts, this was it.
Tomas Magnusson’s goal in the closing stages of an Edinburgh derby low on quality but laden with significance sent Derek McInnes’ side six points clear at the top of the table and turned the pressure firmly back onto rivals Rangers and Celtic.
On a breathless night in Gorgie, the strain of setting the pace for so long in the Premiership looked as if it was starting to take its toll on Hearts.
They struggled to impose themselves on a contest in which, for lengthy spells, Hibs appeared the team more likely to find a winner.
On the back of last week’s defeat to St Mirren in Paisley, there was no doubt Hearts were facing arguably the most challenging phase of their campaign.
Yet again, however, they proved capable of finding a way to rebound successfully from a setback. A share of the spoils here would not have been a disaster but it would have handed huge encouragement to the Old Firm as they try to chase them down.
Derek McInnes celebrates at the end of a pulsating derby, which ended in victory for Hearts
Islam Chesnokov had come close to putting Hearts ahead at Tynecastle against Hibs
Tomas Bent Magnusson, who came on as a substitute, grabbed a late, late winner
Instead, Magnusson’s seismic moment keeps the initiative firmly with Hearts in a week which will end with a pivotal trip to face Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.
They remain unbeaten in the league at Tynecastle this season and are now just 12 games away from becoming Scottish champions for the first time since 1960.
For Hibs, this was an agonising night. Their supporters’ dread of Hearts winning the title increases by the week. Defeat here was also a severe blow to David Gray’s hopes of leading Hibs into Europe for a second successive season.
The steady rain which fell did nothing to dampen the atmosphere on an evening which carried so much weight for both clubs.
Tony Bloom had made the trip north to witness the latest phase of a project which has already exceeded his own expectations of his first season as a major investor in Hearts. The Brighton owner and professional gambler may be about to hit the jackpot again.
McInnes threw something of a selection curve ball by handing Islam Chesnokov, one of those players identified by Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics recruitment consultancy, his first starting appearance in maroon.
The Kazakhstan winger had been described by McInnes himself as still being short of the sharpness and fitness required to feature more regularly for his team.
There was certainly no sign of that in the early stages as Chesnokov immediately endeared himself to the home fans with a crunching challenge which left both Dan Barlaser and Martin Boyle floored.
It was a painful derby defeat for Hibs and their manager David Gray as they came away from Tynecastle with nothing
It was a sign that the 26-year-old, who arrived with a reputation for technical excellence, isn’t going to shy away from the physical challenges posed by Scottish football.
A brilliant dummy from Chesnokov allowed Pierre Landry Kabore to burst down the right before cutting in and shanking a shot wide but it was a rare moment of real attacking threat from the league leaders in a scrappy first half.
It was Hibs, straining to put a dent in their rivals’ title aspirations, who created the clearer cut openings before the break.
Felix Passlack, one of five derby debutants in Gray’s starting line-up, wasted a glorious situation in the ninth minute when he raced clear on the right but overhit his pass to the unmarked Boyle who ran out of space and couldn’t get a shot away.
Set pieces looked the likeliest source of a breakthrough and Alexandros Kyzridis might have done better than scoop a shot over after Kabore had flicked on Oisin McEntee’s long throw. The Greek winger’s lack of composure was typical of the rushed and frantic nature of the contest.
Hibs came closer with a long throw of their own from Jack Iredale which caused panic in the Hearts defence but Dane Scarlett was unable to get a telling touch on the ball as he stretched in the six-yard box.
Hearts’ best chance of the first half came four minutes before the break when Kabore’s shot was deflected towards the back post where Chesnokov could only hook the ball over from close range under pressure from a brave challenge by Raphael Sallinger who took a painful blow in the process.
On the stroke of half-time, Alexander Schwolow was seriously tested for the first time and the Hearts keeper did well to keep out Boyle’s shot from a tight angle.
Sallinger almost suffered a horror moment eight minutes into the second half when he made a meal of dealing with a low shot from Harry Milne. The ball looked set to squirm beyond him before he scrambled to clutch it at the second attempt.
It increasingly felt as if it might take that kind of error for either team to make the breakthrough.
With Hearts looking more and more on edge, Hibs enjoyed a decent spell of pressure and Kyziridis had to track back to make a crucial intervention which denied Boyle a clear sight of goal. The Greek player’s rather bizarre and extended celebration of his clearance in front of the Hibs fans behind Schwolow’s goal summed up just how much was at stake.
The introduction of Ante Suto gave the visitors fresh impetus in the closing stages and the Croatian forward, already a firm favourite with the Hibs fans, headed just wide as Gray’s men pushed hard for a winner.
Instead, it was Hearts who found it at the other end with just two minutes of regulation time left. Milne did brilliantly to find space on the left to sweep over a low cross which Magnusson swept beyond Sallinger from close range.
Four minutes of stoppage time must have felt like eternity for the Hearts fans but their team saw them out and Nick Walsh’s final whistle sparked jubilant and raucous scenes on three sides of the stadium.
