Hearts unwavering as fans answer the call and injured star conducts the Tynecastle choir

It might have been 1986 all over again – with one crucial difference. Hearts do not look in the mood to slip up. Portuguese forward Claudio Braga’s winner after 28 minutes put the pressure back on Rangers and Celtic, who play each other at Ibrox on Sunday, and stretched his side’s lead at the top to seven points.

The watching Ferguson, here as a guest of the hosts and sporting the home colours, must have been impressed. He is clearly backing McInnes to end his 41-year reign as the last non-Old Firm manager to win the Scottish title.

The 84-year-old is enjoying reacquainting himself with the blood and thunder of Scottish league football. He will, though, have been saddened by Aberdeen’s lack of fight. They have become perennial Tynecastle underachievers. A late bust-up, in which Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov was heavily involved, was about as close as they got to landing a blow on Hearts. The away fans won’t mistake this outbreak of handbags for any sort of acceptable defiance. There was some unhappiness about a penalty decision that did not go Aberdeen’s way in the second half, after Stuart Armstrong looked to have been bundled over in the box. McInnes later admitted his heart has been in his mouth but Kevin Clancy was unmoved, as, it seems, was the referee's VAR team.

The visitors’ weakness in Gorgie can almost be taken as read, so to speak. It’s now 15 visits since they last won at this stadium. Hearts, meanwhile, stretched their run without a home defeat in 90 minutes to 20 matches. Not since a 1-0 reversal against Dundee in May last season have they suffered a league loss on their patch although they were beaten on penalties by Falkirk in the Scottish Cup in January.

Although this is an impressive statistic, one not bettered since the 1980s, some nervousness might have been expected here. But Hearts once again dealt with the pressure very effectively while being roared on by a fanbase answering McInnes’ call to help the players as much as possible.

Unwaveringly professional...

Some might have grumbled that inviting Chisholm to sing a song so associated with the year Hearts lost the title in sickening fashion risked trouble. But it was a genius move. Maybe even Ferguson joined in. Most people seemed to lend their voices to the chorus.

Just as against Hibs and Falkirk in recent home matches, McInnes’ side were unwaveringly professional. Never mind one-nil to the Arsenal, it’s one-nil to the Jambos that is becoming a recurring theme. McInnes, the former Aberdeen manager, certainly enjoyed it at the end. In an added punch to the gut for visiting fans, it seems Ferguson did too. Aberdeen, their legendary former manager probably quickly concluded, were a lost cause.

Toyosi Olusanya had a thankless task up front for the visitors. Kevin Nisbet, his strike partner, barely featured. Contrast his performance with that of Braga. The Portuguese forward scored his 15th goal of the season and was a constant source of bother for Aberdeen. He might already have broken the deadlock before scoring after 28 minutes. His header while unmarked from Harry Milne’s cross from the left flashed by the far post after 12 minutes.

It wasn’t the easiest of chances to be fair to him. Certainly it wasn’t as straightforward as the opportunity set up for him by Landry Kabore 15 minutes later, which he made no mistake with. His attacking partner deserved all the praise going for hurdling an attempted sliding tackle from Liam Morrison on the near touchline; the aforementioned Willie Miller, present as a pundit for BBC Radio Scotland, must have shielded his eyes. What is it they say about a defender never going to ground? Miller rarely did. Morrison dived into the challenge in kamikaze fashion. Kabore might not be everyone’s cup of tea at Tynecastle but he did everything right to evade the wild attempt to stop him in his tracks and then kept his composure to pick out Braga, whose movement towards space was impeccable. He turned the ball home beyond Mitov. It was the settler Hearts needed.

Kabore might have provided it slightly earlier. His attempted lob looked like it might sneak in but drifted just off target. Striker Lawrence Shankland, sitting next to Cammy Devlin and Stuart Findlay in the stand, would have done anything to have been in the same position. The injured first team trio were kicking every ball behind the dugout, Devlin especially so. He was just a fan in a tracksuit and stood up to applaud when Braga was withdrawn along with the excellent Blair Spittal with three minutes left. Islam Chesnokov and Beni Baningime replaced them as fans struck up The Hearts Song once more. Hearts saw out the five minutes of added time comfortably enough against a side who have still to score an away goal in 2026.

Devlin was, by the end, conducting the supporters’ choir. There’s a desire evident that will take Hearts a long way, even if they do fall short on the pitch – which they didn’t here. Now it’s over to the Old Firm. Hearts can treat whatever happens at Ibrox as positive. A draw might be preferable but three points for Rangers would knock Celtic further off course. An away victory means Hearts’ nearest challengers have suffered a blow.

There are now just nine games to go, for Hearts at least. Devlin and Shankland will be back for some of them, which will feel like new signings. It’s second bottom Kilmarnock away next in two weekends’ time, and they have just lost 5-1 to Falkirk. Hearts will of course be happy with another 1-0 win.