It was a case of double, double, toil and trouble for Partick Thistle at Firhill as two goals apiece from Juanma and Osman Sow helped Hearts to an emphatic victory over the Maryhill men.
A poacher’s effort from the Spaniard before the interval and a second from Sow soon after the break put Hearts in control, before Liam Lindsay felled Arnaud Djoum in the area and Juanma stepped up to claim his second.
Sow won and scored another spot-kick as he was tripped by young Partick Thistle keeper Ryan Scully when clear on goal, with the Thistle stand-in being sent off for the last-man challenge to round off a miserable day for Alan Archibald’s men.
Callum Paterson had the first sight of goal as he lined up a free-kick around 25 yards out after a couple of minutes, but he dragged his low effort a yard or two wide.
Mustapha Dumbuya then gifted possession to Arnaud Djoum in midfield, and he broke forward to set up a chance for Danny Swanson, but his curled right-foot shot just landed the wrong side of Ryan Scully’s post.
Thistle’s first real sight of goal came from Stuart Bannigan, when a nice passing move ended with Dumbuya picking the midfielder out with a cross as he arrived around the back of the Hearts defence.
He took a touch before looping a volley over Neil Alexander, but the ball had just too much on it and drifted over the bar.
The same player then floated in a corner for the home side that Hearts failed to clear, the ball eventually landing at the feet of David Amoo whose goal-bound effort was only kept out by a smart block from Jordan McGhee.
A long ball over the head of Dumbuya then caused the full-back problems as he looked unsure whether to clear or pass back to Scully with Juanma in pursuit. In the end he did neither, as his wild swipe at the ball almost presented the ball to the Hearts’ forward, but Scully bailed his defender out by gathering before the Spaniard could reach it.
Juanma would soon be celebrating the opener though, as Hearts hit the front after 37 minutes.
A Swanson free-kick was flicked on target by Sam Nicholson, with Scully pushing the ball wide. Sow picked up the loose ball and drilled it low into the six-yard area where Juanma pounced to poke beyond the stand-in Thistle keeper and give the visitors the lead at the break.
The Jags fans voiced their displeasure at referee Steven McLean as the half-time whistle blew, with the theatrics of a few Hearts players going unchecked throughout the opening period. One recovery from Nicholson as the ball landed near him whilst lying prostrate on the pitch in apparent distress was particularly embarrassing, so much so that it drew laughter rather than howls of derision from the home end.
The Thistle support weren’t laughing soon after the break though as Hearts doubled their advantage, with Sow making the most of some soft Thistle defending to get their second on 51 minutes.
The ball was played into the big striker’s feet inside the area with his back to goal, and he turned into Lindsay whose attempted clearance rebounded off Sow and landed back at his feet, allowing him to bundle through and finish low under Scully.
Paterson then stung the palms of Scully from distance as Hearts looked to put the game to bed, and they duly did after 64 minutes.
Djoum weaved his way into the area through several challenges before Lindsay intervened with a trip just as the midfielder was about to pull the trigger.
McLean immediately pointed to the spot, and was perhaps slightly lenient to only flash a yellow in the young defender’s direction.
Juanma stepped up to send Scully the wrong way and wrap up the points for the visitors.
Another penalty put the tin lid on a miserable afternoon for Thistle, Sow running through and being tripped by Scully as he rounded the keeper on 85 minutes, with Scully subsequently seeing red.
Ryan Stevenson went in goal, but couldn’t stop Sow’s high effort from finding the net.
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