New shareholder Tony Bloom was the toast of Tynecastle as Hearts backed up his bullish pre-match talk by kicking off their William Hill Premiership campaign with a 2-0 home victory over Aberdeen.
The Brighton owner, who recently completed a deal to invest in the Edinburgh club, had inadvertently cranked up the pressure on Derek McInnes’ side with a string of bold declarations in the 24 hours leading up to their league opener, including stating that he felt they could crack the traditional Old Firm stranglehold in Scotland by finishing in the top two this term.
Bloom, who had his name sung by Hearts supporters lapping up his ambitious intentions for their club as he watched on from the main stand, avoided any early egg on his face as the Jambos dug out a deserved victory to move top of the fledgling Premiership table on goal difference.
McInnes’ men seized the initiative through an early own goal by Dons captain Graeme Shinnie and then overcame a rocky spell after the break to seal their win with a header from Stuart Findlay.
McInnes, taking charge of his first league game 11 weeks after being headhunted from Kilmarnock, named summer signings Christian Borchgrevink, Findlay, Oisin McEntee and Claudio Braga in his starting line-up.
Tomas Magnusson was on the bench after his transfer from Valur was completed hours before kick-off, and the Icelandic midfielder came on in added time.
The Dons, in their first competitive match since winning the Scottish Cup in May, included debutant trio Adil Aouchiche, Kusini Yengi and Nicolas Milanovic in their starting XI.
With conditions relatively calm following concerns earlier in the day that the game might fall victim to Storm Floris, Hearts started strongly and made the breakthrough in the 11th minute when Harry Milne’s low delivery from the left was turned into the net by the unfortunate Shinnie on his 34th birthday after Dimitar Mitov had made an excellent save to deny McEntee.
The hosts had the wind in their sails and almost doubled their lead when Milne smashed a ferocious strike off the bar from the angle of the box.
The Dons’ only clear chance of the first half came in the 16th minute when Yengi knocked a close-range effort against the post.
Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland had a stunning strike ruled out just before the break after team-mates Frankie Kent and Craig Halkett drifted offside in the build-up.
Aberdeen started the second half with renewed purpose and Yengi spurned a golden opportunity in the 50th minute before Milanovic saw an effort saved by Zander Clark.
McInnes, wary of the Dons’ growing threat, made a quadruple substitution and switched from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 in 70th minute.
The move seemed to work as the Jambos doubled their advantage within three minutes when Findlay arrived at the back post to nod home from close range after Dons defender Mats Knoester was unable to deal with Milne’s inswinging free-kick from the right.
