Hearts’ miserable start to the season continued as they crashed to a 3-1 Scottish Premiership defeat by Motherwell at rain-lashed Fir Park.
The Steelmen went ahead through Paul McGinn midway through the first half and Stephen O’Donnell doubled their lead on the hour before substitute Yutaro Oda pulled one back for the visitors.
But Well sub Tom Sparrow ran clear to seal a first league victory for his side and consign Hearts to a fifth game without a win and a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Hearts’ Barrie McKay looks dejected during the defeat at Motherwell
Motherwell made one change to the side that defeated Kilmarnock in the League Cup a week earlier as Tawanda Maswanhise came in for his first start, with Steve Seddon dropping to the bench.
There were four changes to the Hearts side that started Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League play-off first-leg defeat away to Viktoria Plzen as James Penrice, Cammy Devlin, Jorge Grant and Kenneth Vargas made way for Yan Dhanda, Blair Spittal, Alan Forrest and Colombian debutant Andres Salazar.
The visitors made an encouraging start by controlling possession in the early minutes but they were soon knocked out of their stride by the hosts.
Maswanhise played a key role in getting Motherwell on the front foot, with the Zimbabwe winger having a couple of early attempts blocked by Hearts defenders Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley.
As the hosts built up a head of steam, they thought they had gone ahead when former Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday headed goalward from inside the six-yard box but goalkeeper Craig Gordon spread himself brilliantly and somehow turned the ball over the bar with his head.
The breakthrough came in the 25th minute for the Steelmen when Lennon Miller floated a lovely free-kick just beyond the penalty spot and McGinn headed down beyond Gordon.
Motherwell took the lead through Paul McGinn
Maswanhise went close to adding a second five minutes later when he cut inside Gerald Taylor and rasped an angled shot towards goal but Gordon pushed it over.
Hearts almost levelled in the 35th minute when former Well midfielder Spittal burst on to a loose ball in the box and saw a low angled shot blocked on the line by Ewan Wilson, meaning the hosts were able to go in at the break with a deserved lead.
Well made a change six minutes into the second half when Tony Watt was introduced for Halliday and within seconds of entering the fray, the striker forced a save out of Gordon with a ferocious angled shot from just inside the box.
Hearts boss Naismith responded with a triple substitution as Taylor, Dhanda and Forrest were replaced with Vargas, Devlin and Oda.
The changes made no immediate impact and Motherwell doubled their lead on the hour when Miller’s inswinging free-kick from the left was headed home by O’Donnell from six yards out.
Hearts – in a state of desperation – temporarily came to life and pulled one back in the 65th minute when Oda who slotted home from eight yards out at the end of a well-worked move involving Spittal and Lawrence Shankland.
Their supporters sensed an opportunity to get something from the game but Well regained full command in the 81st minute when Salazar’s pass ran loose on the edge of the Hearts box and substitute Sparrow burst through to fire past the exposed Gordon.
Kettlewell: I’m always going to want more
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell:
“The result is the most important thing but it came with a real strong performance. That’s what we need to look like as a Motherwell team.
“The set-plays were important for us but I thought in general our play was pretty good and I still think it can be better.
“I am always going to want more and the reason I say that is I think we will have that in our group through time, with players coming back from injury and the potential to potentially freshen one or two things up this week as we draw a close to the transfer window.
“The players need to come away with a lot of confidence off the back of today.”
Naismith: We need to fix things
Hearts boss Steven Naismith:
“It’s frustrating. At the moment, in both boxes we’re second best. Every goal we’ve conceded this season has been really, really poor.
“In the final third, our final pass and decision-making was poor and when we got shots we didn’t make the most of them. In both boxes, we’re not at the level we need to be at.”
Motherwell went two ahead through headers from Paul McGinn and Stephen O’Donnell before Yutaro Oda pulled one back. Tom Sparrow sealed the win following a lapse from Hearts debutant Andres Salazar.
Asked about the concession of the first two goals from set-pieces, Naismith said: “It’s poor. There’s nothing else to be said. Even the third goal is poor.
“Every goal we have conceded we’ve given a helping hand to the opposition.
“There’s not one goal I’ve looked and thought ‘wow, that’s great play’. Our decision-making, quality of defending and timing of when we drop has been really poor and it’s costing us big time at the moment.
“We need to fix it. It can’t go on the way it is. On the other side we need to be better at making chances. The quality of our final ball is lacking massively.”
