James Wilson was the hero for Hearts as his late goal rescued a 1-1 draw against Hibs at Easter Road to leave the hosts bottom of the Premiership as pressure mounts on David Gray.
The 17-year-old substitute pounced in the 87th minute to score his second goal in consecutive appearances and cancel out a 65th-minute opener from Hibs striker Mykola Kukharevich.
The 1-1 draw was enough to maintain Hearts’ unbeaten start under recently-appointed boss Neil Critchley, while it was yet another body-blow for Hibernian manager Gray, whose side have been plagued by the loss of game-changing late goals this term.
The Hibees – without a win in four – remain below their city rivals on goal difference at the foot of the table.
Gray made four changes to the side that started the 3-2 defeat at Dundee United as suspended captain Joe Newell, Chris Cadden, Kukharevich and Rudi Molotnikov were replaced by Nectar Triantis, Dwight Gayle, Martin Boyle and Elie Youan.
Critchley freshened things up with three changes to the Hearts team that started the 2-0 Conference League win over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday, with Daniel Oyegoke, James Penrice and Yan Dhanda replacing Adam Forrester, Stephen Kingsley and Alan Forrest.
After a typically frantic start to proceedings, the visitors threatened in the 10th minute when Kenneth Vargas dispossessed Marvin Ekpiteta on the left and teed up Blair Spittal on the edge of the box.
The midfielder’s shot was charged down and Hibs immediately countered, presenting Boyle with an opportunity, but defender Frankie Kent did superbly to close the Australia forward down and block the shot.
Spittal then blazed over after a Penrice corner broke to him on edge of the box.
Hibs went close in the 20th minute when Youan’s shot from wide on the left was palmed out by Craig Gordon and the ball broke to Gayle whose low shot from 15 yards was cleared off the line by Penrice.
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Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland stings the palms of Hibernian keeper Josef Bursik at Easter Road.
Three minutes later, Hibs midfielder Triantis was robbed of possession, allowing Lawrence Shankland to burst forward menacingly but the Hearts captain’s powerful shot from the edge of the box was pushed behind by Josef Bursik.
The hosts had a great chance in the 34th minute when Junior Hoilett clipped a free-kick from the right to the edge of the six-yard box, but Gayle’s header was too close to Gordon, who was able to make an instinctive save.
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Craig Gordon pulls off a fabulous save from Dwight Gayle’s header with Hibernian and Hearts still looking for an opener at Easter Road.
Gayle had another opportunity three minutes after the break but the former Crystal Palace and Newcastle striker sent his close-range header into the grateful arms of Gordon from a Boyle cross.
Both managers made double substitutions just after the hour in an effort to seize the initiative and it was Gray’s that paid off the quickest as Hibs took the lead in the 65th minute.
Hoilett’s free-kick from the right was not dealt with by the visitors and when Ekpiteta sent a looping header towards goal, it was tipped onto the crossbar by Gordon and bounced down for Kukharevich who forced it over the line from close range.
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Mykola Kukharevych scrambles the ball home to give Hibernian the lead
Hibs had a let-off four minutes later when Shankland blasted wide from a Jorge Grant cutback before Kye Rowles headed over from a Penrice free-kick.
But after Triantis spurned a huge chance to kill the game in the 83rd minute, young Wilson poked in the equaliser after Penrice’s long throw fell to him on the edge of the six-yard box.
Gray: Individual errors cost us
Hibernian boss David Gray speaking to Sky Sports:
“I feel like I’m standing and answering the same questions again. We deserved to win the game and for 99 per cent of the game, we defended the box very well.
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Hibernian manager David Gray says he was disappointed with the way his side switched off to surrender a lead in their 1-1 draw at home to Hearts.
“The frustration about not seeing the game out then comes in. We’ve talked about it a lot. It’s about doing your job. I felt in that moment, two people switched off and did not do their job. It’s frustrating and hard to take.
“We’ve been punished for it and the only thing we can do is keep working at it. You can’t hope that it will just get better.”
Critchley: We kept playing and that is a positive
Hearts boss Neil Critchley speaking to Sky Sports:
“Second half we were pushing them back but we conceded at a poor time to a poor goal. Brilliant for young James to come on and equalise. To finish as strong as we did after the week we’ve had is a real positive. We want to go right to the end, this club demands it and the supporters demand it.
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Hearts boss Neil Critchley reflects on the positives and negatives from his side’s 1-1 draw with Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby
“We should never lose on mentality. I felt we showed the courage to play. We were wasteful in certain areas as we didn’t keep the ball in the final third enough. When we started to do that, that’s when they scored. Our ability to keep playing was a real positive.
“When we scored, Forresty [Alan Forrest] came over to me and I said let’s go for it.”
Wilson: It was amazing to score in Edinburgh derby
Hearts goalscorer James Wilson speaking to Sky Sports:
“It was amazing to score in front of the fans. It was a simple job when I came on, go and score a goal. I think you have to gamble, you’re waiting on the flick-on. I was lucky to get there.”
