Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken has explained why his side let victory slip at Pittodrie, saying they were not ruthless enough in either box and did not show the mentality he wants.
The collapse overshadowed the first competitive start since a summer illness for new signing Amadou Ba-Sy, a 24-year-old Frenchman who played 60 minutes before being substituted. Ba-Sy arrived at Tynecastle from the French third tier, and reaction to his performance was divided among Hearts supporters online.
His physique made him hard to defend against, and he rolled past Chris Cadden before delivering the low ball that led to Oisin McEntee's opening goal.
But there were rougher moments too. Before the quarter-hour mark, Claudio Braga fed Ba-Sy the ball from the right and made a run into space, only for Ba-Sy to deliver what was described as an atrocious pass. He also blazed a chance well over the bar before half-time after being set up by Blair Spittal, showed little body language or celebration when Hearts took the lead, and made few telling runs. He was eventually replaced by Pierre Landry Kabore.
Hearts throw away the lead
Hearts played well for most of the match at Pittodrie, settling after an open start and taking control of the game. But a chaotic closing period saw them concede an equaliser bundled home by Lewis Mayo, before Stuart Findlay was sent off for conceding a penalty deep into stoppage time, which Kevin Nisbet converted.
Vrancken made changes late on, taking off Laurent Mendy for Jamie McCart and pushing McEntee into midfield, but the collapse was not attributed solely to those switches. Jordi Altena was described as poor in the build-up to both Aberdeen goals.
Pressure builds ahead of Benfica trip
Vrancken is already facing questions over his side, which is missing several key players from last season through injury and includes new signings not yet ready for selection. Braga is out of form and Alexandros Kyziridis was dropped for the match. The head coach now faces a Europa League qualifying trip to Benfica on Thursday.
Sporting director Graeme Jones, who oversees Hearts' transfer dealings including the signing of Ba-Sy, said this season was always going to be about building on last season's progress.
