Aberdeen ended a run of five consecutive defeats as goalkeeper Ross Doohan saved Jorge Grant’s penalty in stoppage time to secure a 0-0 draw at home to Hearts.
The Dons’ winless streak has been extended to 11 matches since November, but they will be relieved to escape with a point after the Jambos’ two January signings Elton Kabangu and Jamie McCart threatened with second-half headers before last-gasp kick drama when Sivert Heltne Nilsen penalized for a foul on Hearts’ substitute Kenneth Vargas.
Hearts are now unbeaten in four but remain second bottom of the Scottish Premiership, albeit within a point of Ross County and Kilmarnock, and five of the top six.
Dons boss Jimmy Thelin, whose side have dropped to fourth in the table amid their incredible recent slump, made four changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Motherwell a week earlier, with defenders Jack MacKenzie, Angus MacDonald and Slobodan Otpada Rubežić together with Duke.
Latvian centre-back Kristers Tobers and on-loan Preston winger Jeppa Okkels were put straight into the starting line-up for their debuts, while James McGarry and Leighton Clarkson also came in. Midfielder Nilsen returned to the defense to partner Tobers.
There were three changes to the Hearts team that started the 1-0 win at Dundee United as Daniel Oyegoke, McCart and Beni Baningime replaced Adam Forrester, Kye Rowles and Liam Boyce, who sealed his move to Derry City on Saturday . New Belgian striker Kabangu was named on the bench.
Aberdeen, who haven’t lost at home to the Edinburgh side since May 2016, started on the front foot and took a number of corners in the opening minutes, one of which led to a chance for Tobers who saw his close-range effort miss. published by Craig Gordon.
Hearts soon gained a foothold and continued to enjoy a lot of possession, but failed to create any clear-cut chances before the break.
Two big chances in the first half fell to Dons winger Topi Keskinen, who found the back of the net twice in the space of nine minutes.
On the first occasion, after 24 minutes, the Finn was released with a ball over the top of the Palaverse but missed his effort completely on the edge of the box, then raced into the box after a fine cross from Kevin Nisbet, but his shot rolled agonizingly wide of Gordon’s left post.
Hearts – struggling to open up the Dons’ defense – sent on Kabangu for his debut in the 66th minute and the on-loan Union Saint-Gilloise striker almost broke the deadlock in the 71st minute when his header from Grant’s cross was tipped over by Doohan.
From the resulting corner, which was taken by Blair Spittal, McCart headed the post before Kabanga saw his effort after a rebound from Jamie McGrath.
Hearts looked set to claim a third straight win deep into stoppage time when Nilsen tripped Vargas as the pair battled for James Penrice’s cross, but Doohan dived to his right to push Grant’s spot-kick onto the post.
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