Hearts 0-0 Hibernian

Hearts and Hibernian played out a hugely disappointing stalemate in the first Edinburgh derby of the season.

The home side applied most of the pressure but could not profit from a host of corners and long throw-ins.

Hibs had the best chance of the game when Janos Balogh tipped a strike from David Wotherspoon, that was redirected by Colin Nish, on to the post.

Balogh was also called upon to keep out two strikes from Derek Riordan, who looked lively as a substitute.

Hibs stay in second place in the Scottish Premier League but will be overtaken by Rangers if the Ibrox side win at home to St Mirren.

It was another frustrating outing for Hearts, who remain in the lower reaches of the table, and their shortcomings in attack were painfully evident.

With Sol Bamba missing, Hibs lacked height in central defence and Hearts set about exploiting that early on with a couple of huge throw-ins from Jose Goncalves.

And there was a scare for the visitors when Christian Nade's header was deflected narrowly wide.

Following a typically frantic opening, the game slowed to a mere frenzy, with the home side posing the more potent threat.

On 19 minutes Hearts skipper Michael Stewart fired an awkward first-time shot wide from the edge of the penalty area after a neat one-two with Arvydas Novikovas.

Another high ball caused problems for the visiting defence and when Ian Black connected with the loose ball 18 yards out his fierce drive was deflected over the crossbar by a green shirt.

With the cumbersome Nish finding it hard to hold the ball up and Abdesselam Benjelloun lying very deep, Hibs offered little in the final third.

Anthony Stokes did manage to connect with a knockdown from lone striker Nish on 37 minutes but, at full-stretch, could not get any purchase on the shot and Balogh gathered easily.

The first half ended as it had started, with Goncalves shelling in another enormous throw but Hibs held firm.

The second period opened with Andrew Driver making an enterprising burst from the halfway line deep into Hibs territory but the winger's shot was weak and failed to test Graham Stack.

Nish and Chris Hogg were wasteful with headers inside the Hearts penalty box, while Black flicked an effort just wide with the back of his head and warmed the hands of Stack with a drive from 20 yards.

Hibs fans were on their feet on 65 minutes when full-back Wotherspoon let fly from distance and Nish re-directed the shot with his head only to see Balogh get fingertips to the ball and push it on to the post.

Hibs were claiming a penalty when a Kevin McBride shot hit Stewart on the elbow and Balogh had to get down smartly to beat away a raking strike from Riordan, who did not start due to picking up a minor injury walking his dog.

Riordan tested Balogh again with a sweetly-struck shot on the angle, while Hearts replacement Gary Glen forced the ball wide from close range, with the final touch coming off his shoulder.

Stack spilled a long range dig from Glen in the final minute but recovered in time, with some assistance from Hogg, to form enough of a barrier to foil the onrushing Jamie Mole.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo:
"At the moment I am a little unsatisfied with the results - not with today's game.

"We passed and created - everything was there - and we had about 12 corners today, and I think Hibs only had one chance from a deflection.

"If you have a clean sheet this is not enough. You need someone up front with the killer instinct and this is not there at the moment."

Hibernian manager John Hughes:
"I don't think it was a great game but to come away from home and pick up a point when we're not at our best - we'll take that.

"Hearts were the better side in the first half without creating many chances.

"We didn't get going until the last 20 minutes, so that's frustrating.

"We never did enough to win the game, and I felt we had one or two players off the boil.

"But we kept a clean sheet so the players have to take credit for that."