Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery hailed Elie Youan for his reaction to a half-time warning after the winger netted two goals in 83 seconds to earn his side an Edinburgh derby point against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Montgomery was unhappy with his side’s first-half efforts as they trailed to Alan Forrest’s spectacular strike before Christian Doidge’s 58th-minute own goal put Hearts two ahead.
But Youan struck twice in quick succession midway through the second half after combining with Dylan Vente and both teams collected a cinch Premiership point after a thrilling finale.
Montgomery said: “Elie’s a fantastic player, he could play at the highest level no doubt, but he needs to be more consistent and he knows that.
“I told him at half-time we needed more from him because he’s a player that can win you a game of football.
“There were too many who weren’t good enough in the first half and Elie was definitely one of them but when I asked him to step up he certainly did.
“He gets two goals and we need that from him for 90 minutes, not for 45. If only the game was 45 minutes he would probably be playing in the Champions League.
“But that’s something Elie has to fix, he’s a young player with bags of ability. That’s normal, sometimes it takes young players a couple of years to get that consistency but there’s no doubting his ability. He is a fantastic player and a good lad and second half he reacted really well.”
Montgomery labelled the 2-2 draw “definitely a good outcome in the end”.
“They were a lot better than us in the first half and I thought second half we were the better team,” he said.
“I’m very disappointed in the first half and the way we played and I told the boys at half-time it wasn’t good enough.
“We talked about the emotion of the game during the week and a few too many got caught up with the emotion and they dealt with it better.
“I told them second half they had to go out there and fix it and they did.”
Hearts head coach Steven Naismith bemoaned the 90-second spell which cost his team what he felt would have been a deserved win.
“We put so much into the game and for large parts it was a really good performance,” he said.
“We carried a threat, the chances we had were really good, scored two good goals, and the biggest disappointment is we have given up two goals in the space of a minute-and-a-half that has ultimately cost us three points in what would have been a very good performance.
“I think over time we will look at the performance and be positive but decision-making when it goes 2-1, you can question, and ultimately our defending has cost us.”
Naismith felt the impressive Alex Lowry was tiring as he explained his decision to take the midfielder off in the 62nd minute and replace him with the more defensive-minded Beni Baningime.
Naismith added: “The game was getting a bit more stretched, we weren’t keeping the ball when we should be, because they were committing more bodies forward and it started getting end to end. We didn’t want to lose control of it.
“But ultimately it’s a minute-and-a-half of poor decision-making and defending that has cost us.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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