Dundee United 2-3 Hearts: What the manager said
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Scotsman
34 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Beni Baningime wants more responsibility - Hearts need his influence
Premier Sports Cup exit hurt the Congolese midfielder Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Seeing Beni Bangingime strolling towards the penalty spot in Paisley on Saturday would have been unexpected for many of the 1,476 travelling Hearts fans. The midfielder is not known for his shooting ability, but he confidently converted his team's fifth penalty in the Premier Sports Cup shootout against St Mirren. Malik Dijksteel then did likewise to win the tie for Saints and take them into the quarter-finals. A cup exit in mid-August hurts Hearts after six wins from six under new head coach Derek McInnes. Shamal George's penalty save thwarted the Tynecastle forward Claudio Braga in the shootout, resulting in defeat by the tightest of margins. Baningime is just returning from injury and his influence had been notably missed in recent games. The Congolese is now one of the more senior players at Tynecastle Park, a responsibility he does not take lightly. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When asked to take a penalty, he didn't hesitate despite knowing there were more accomplished finishers around him. It is a sign of the player's maturity that he wanted to shoulder the pressure and step forward for the fifth - and potentially pivotal - Hearts kick. He had entered the fray as a half-time substitute and brought composure to midfield. The visitors enjoyed a stronger second half, scored an equaliser and pushed for a winner in extra-time following an unconvincing first 45 minutes. The improvement with Baningime on the pitch is no coincidence. He explained why he is willingly assuming extra responsibility these days, starting with that penalty-kick. 'I was down to take one, yeah,' said the midfielder. 'The gaffer asked me: 'How are you feeling?' I was like: 'Yeah, I'm fine.' I just said I wanted the attacking players to go first because, ultimately, they should be going first. Just because they're better than me at shooting. If it was one-v-ones or tackling, then I'd be like: 'No, I'll go first.' I'm 27 next month, so I'm not a kid anymore. I need to try and take on more responsibilities. When the gaffer called my number, I was like: 'Yeah, fine.'' More responsibility comes this week as Baningime and other experienced figures try to rejuvenate their Hearts colleagues following the disappointment of Saturday's cup exit. 'Oh yeah, 100 per cent,' he acknowledged. 'I think as you grow, you've been in the game long enough, you've seen a lot of things, you've experienced a lot of things. You take on a different role without even someone telling you. Maybe someone is a bit younger than me, or you know people's character, so you know maybe he's not going to be as good at this. So you end up just taking on responsibilities and it just fits. 'It was a tough first half on Saturday, but I thought the second half was a different game and then, obviously, we had extra-time. It's a tough one to take. It's hard to take positives out of losing, but I think you've got to. It's happened, you've lost, you've got to move on, and you've got to bounce back as quickly as you can. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad EPL win and Scottish Premiership success - but Premier Sports Cup heartache 'I think from the pre-season, when we even beat a Premier League side [Sunderland] in one of our games, it's been good so far. It's a bump in the road. The game could have gone either way. That's what penalties are. We could be coming in and saying: 'Oh great, a win.' Unfortunately for us, that wasn't the case. It's happened, a we have to try not to allow this to derail us any further.' Braga looked dejected at being the only one of 10 players not to convert during the shootout. The Portuguese is a popular figure among Hearts fans as a new signing with fervour and character in abundance. Again, Baningime and others will try to help lift his spirits if needed. 'He was okay [afterwards],' said Baningime. 'I think experienced players, we have to get around him and be like, that can happen to anyone. It could have been me, it could have been Shanks, it could have been anyone. Ultimately for him, it's the same message that I'm saying to the team: It's happened, it's gone. 'On another day, he scores a goal. So you have to try and move on as quickly as possible. He's had a great start to his Hearts career, so you don't want this thing being the thing that changes that. Hopefully he can bounce back. He's a strong boy, and he'll be okay. All the boys will be around him.' Although fatigued and despondent trudging off the pitch in Paisley, Baningime is not a believer that extra-time should be bypassed in football. Some observers have called for penalties at the end of 90 minutes but the Hearts midfielder does not share that view. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This is my thinking on it, right,' he said. 'I'll maybe [think differently] when we're in Europe, you play a lot of games. I don't play international matches, but I understand some of the points of the boys saying: 'Well, we play this amount of games, we've got the Club World Cup, etc.' I also do think extra-time, it's just part of the game. It's part of something that I've always grown up playing. So I'm on the side of sticking with it. 'If you play 90 minutes and then you're taking penalties, I don't know, it just sounds weird to me. You get paid a lot of money, so I'm not really on the side of complaining that we're playing more football. All those boys, let's even say higher up in the Premier League and whatever, some of these guys are earning thousands. You can easily just change players and alternate if you want. So I'm on the side of playing extra-time.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Williams sympathises with Scotland's contract woes
Women's Rugby World Cup 2025: Scotland v WalesVenue: Salford Community Stadium Date: Saturday, 23 August Kick-off: 14:45 BSTCoverage: Live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Online and BBC Sounds Wales co-captain Kate Williams says she sympathises with Scotland players who are going through contract uncertainty in the build up to the Rugby World than half of Scotland's squad fear being left without a professional deal after the tournament in October.A source in their camp told the BBC in June players were suffering with their mental and emotional experienced similar upheaval last year when they were given ultimatums and threatened with withdrawal from the World Cup when contract talks broke Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) later apologised for its handling of the situation."I wouldn't wish what we went through on any other team," said Williams. Scotland are due to meet Wales in their Pool B opener on is a game which could decide which team makes it through to the quarter-finals, with Canada expected to top the group and both sides tipped to beat Fiji."I think it's really poor timing for them, that they're going through this now," said Williams."I guess our timing was possibly a bit better," with Wales' woes coming prior to WXV2 rather than the World while Williams says she and her team mates "feel their pain", there will be no time for sympathy in Salford."We are here to play rugby and we're here to win that Test match," she added."We know how important it is, so it's just going to be who's better on the day."
The Sun
8 hours ago
- The Sun
It's all well and good spending £200million on Sesko and Co. but Arsenal defeat exposes a HUGE hole Man Utd need to fill
MANCHESTER UNITED have splashed the cash this summer but the goalkeeper position remains a concern. Here are SunSport's key takeaways from the narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal. 2 2 No 1 ISSUE United have been linked with Gianluigi Donnarumma and David de Gea in recent weeks, and surely they will sign a keeper before the window shuts. Ruben Amorim has faith in Andre Onana — even if a lot of the fans do not — but he did not consider him ready to start here. The Cameroonian has missed the whole of pre-season with a hamstring injury. So Altay Bayindir, who has played throughout the build-up to the season, got the nod — and ended up costing his team the game. He should have been stronger under pressure from William Saliba and flapped a corner on to the head of Riccardo Calafiori. Bayindir has had problems with set-pieces before. Amorim and sporting director Jason Wilcox have two weeks to come up with a solution before the end of the transfer window. NO GOALS — AGAIN United mustered just 44 goals in the Prem last season — and here they were starting with a blank again. The Red Devils have spent £200million sprucing up their forward line this summer, and there were encouraging signs from Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. Ex-Prem ref says there was no foul on Man Utd's goalkeeper by William Saliba during Arsenal loss But new £74m centre-forward Benjamin Sesko stayed on the bench until the 65th minute. On a couple of occasions before then there were crosses into the box but nobody there to put them away. Amorim said on Friday he believes Sesko can be United's No 9 for many years to come — and that is why they spent so heavily on him. So it seemed a strange call to leave him on the bench for so long. Clearly the fans agreed as he was given a huge ovation when he arrived. A couple of late half-chances went begging but the Slovenian did enough to show he will be a threat. MIDFIELD STILL AN ISSUE United have abandoned their bid to land Carlos Baleba at least until next summer because of Brighton's asking price. There is an interest in Sporting's Morten Hjulmand, while United are one of several clubs who admire Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace. But there is a chance they will not sign another outfield player, and fans will be worried about the options in midfield. Casemiro was excellent in Europe last season but did not have the same impact in Prem matches, while we are still waiting to see the best of Manuel Ugarte. United are going to be more exciting to watch this season — that is clear already — but will they still have a soft centre?
