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The leader of the Scottish championship, Edinburgh's "Hearts" club, easily defeated the absolute underdog of the league "Livingston" in the away game of the 6th round on Sunday, extending their one hundred percent winning streak with a sixth victory.
1 - 4
11' [0 - 1] Rudi Skacel
27' [0 - 2] Andy Webster
34' [0 - 3] Paul Hartley
45' [1 - 3] Paul Dalglish
63' [1 - 4] Paul Hartley (pen.)
The visitors immediately took the initiative and pressed their opponents in their half. S.Pressley and R.Skacel had the first chances, and in the 11th minute, the latter put his team ahead - after a pass from R.Bednar from the flanks, P.Hartley headed the ball to the Czech who scored his sixth goal of the season.
Shortly after, the Lithuanian E.Jankauskas almost scored but his shot from a sharp angle was saved by the "Livingston" goalkeeper R.McKenzie. The "Hearts" attacks continued and inevitably, in the 27th minute, the league leaders increased their advantage when J.McAllister lifted a penalty kick from the sidelines and defender A.Webster, unmarked, headed the ball into the net.
The hosts tried to respond with a dangerous attack soon after, but C.Gordon made a great save. In the 34th minute, the score became overwhelming after a quick counterattack - E.Jankauskas passed the ball to the flank to R.Bednar, who found himself on the right and made a pass to a free P.Hartley in the middle, who had an easy task of scoring into the "Livingston" net from a few meters away.
With five minutes left until the end of the first half, the hosts were close to scoring, but G.Barrett's shot hit the crossbar after a penalty kick. Nevertheless, one minute later, "Livingston" earned another penalty kick, and with C.Gordon failing to catch the ball that flew past the wall, P.Dalglish hurried to reduce the hosts' deficit.
At the start of the second half, "Livingston" played more actively, but N.Barretto's header flew wide, and P.Dalglish, who broke through against the goalkeeper, also missed slightly. Despite losing the initiative, "Hearts" increased their lead in the 63rd minute - after the opponent held back J.McAllister in the box, resulting in a penalty, easily converted by P.Hartley.
Both teams had opportunities towards the end of the match, but the result remained unchanged. E.Jankauskas performed well until the 58th minute, D.Cesnauskis came on in the 84th minute, and S.Mikoliunas was not registered for the match. The next game for "Hearts" will be an away match against "Inverness" next Saturday.
