Hibs virtuosos sink oomphless Hearts as cut above Kevin Nisbet leaves Steven Naismith battling for an encore

On an afternoon that ended with thousands belting out Sunshine On Leith amid scenes of high emotion, Hibs turned in a near note-perfect performance for embattled gaffer Lee Johnson.

But rookie Hearts boss Steven Naismith left Easter Road knowing that his team will need more than just a bit of fine tuning before the final curtain falls on this Scottish Premiership season. Or he definitely won’t be getting invited back for an encore.

If it hardly takes a degree in analytics to spot that Hibs had all the virtuoso performers on the pitch in Saturday’s Edinburgh derby, at least some credit must go to the conductor who pulled the whole performance together. By shutting off the most obvious threats posed by the visitors, and using his own key weapons to exploit open spaces in behind a high Hearts defensive line, Johnson gave his players the platform to put on a show.

Elie Youan’s searing pace, while in stark contrast to his sluggish decision making at crucial moments, is such an obvious danger that most teams try to shut it down from the off. But Hearts never got to grips with the livewire left winger, who was at them from the opening exchanges (See Photos 1 and 2) – and refused to let up all afternoon.

The visitors weren’t entirely without goal threat, Alan Forrest ghosting into the box to come close from a Nathaniel Atkinson cut-back (see Photo 3) early on.

While the battlefield promotion of Naismith in place of the axed Robbie Neilson should have kept Johnson and his coaching staff second guessing exactly how Hearts would play, however, it quickly became apparent that the home side had put together a plan to stifle the visitors.

Look at Photo 4 and you’ll see how Toby Sibbick’s first choice of pass, into the feet