Manchester United midfielder Jacob Devaney started in Hibernian’s defeat to Hearts on Thursday night. After Jacob Devaney impressed on his Hibernian loan debut in a ...
Manchester United midfielder Jacob Devaney started in Hibernian’s defeat to Hearts on Thursday night.
After Jacob Devaney impressed on his Hibernian loan debut in a 2-1 win against Dundee FC, the United youngster kept his place in David Gray’s starting line-up to face Hearts.
Devaney featured for Manchester United during the summer pre-season tour, but he left on loan for a second spell in the Scottish Premiership.
Looking to build on his form from last season’s St Mirren loan spell, tonight he played in his first-ever Edinburgh derby as Hibernian hosted Hearts at Easter Road.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
The signs were there early on that this was going to be a scrappy affair, with neither side shy of a crunching tackle.
United loanee Devaney made a well-timed sliding tackle on his own in the fourth minute to prevent Hearts from getting the ball into the box.
Hearts took the lead after 14 minutes, courtesy of James Wilson.
Devaney struggled to impose himself in the middle of the pitch as Hearts showed their willingness to fight by being the first to any loose balls.
In the closing moments of the first half, as Hibernian grew into the game, Devaney cut across his shot from outside the box, only to clip the post.
Just moments later, Devaney gave away a cheap foul and the resulting free kick led to Hearts’ second goal on the brink of half-time.
Devaney was replaced at the start of the second half.
The game finished 3-1 in favour of Hearts.
In the first half, Devaney was asked to do a lot of defending, but his use of the ball wasn’t as tidy as usual.
The 19-year-old touched the ball 35 times, and 20 of his 27 passes reached the desired destination.
Failing to create any chances, Devaney’s responsibilities mostly consisted of defending. He made two tackles, two blocks and one recovery in his 45-minute appearance.
Devaney won 40% of his ground duels and was beaten once in the air.
The only foul he committed led to Hearts’ second goal.
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