Liverpool loanee Ben Woodburn scored twice for Hearts in a thrilling Scottish Premiership clash at Tynecastle that saw both sides serve up some fantastic football as Hearts picked up a 5-2 win over Dundee United.

The hosts had the best of the early chances, Beni Baningime involved alongside Barrie McKay as United struggled to clear their lines but the Tannadice side had a few chances of their own as Declan Glass and Nicky Clark threatened to break the deadlock in the Capital.

Hearts took the lead 25 minutes in, Woodburn firing low beyond Siegrist after he was was played inside but the Dundee United keeper won’t want to see it again after allowing the ball to squirm underneath his body and into the net.

Just minutes after going ahead, the Jambos made it 2-0 though Alex Cochrane as Hearts’ continued pressure eventually paid off and the ball fell nicely for Cochrane to lash it home and double the advantage on the scoreboard.

They had Craig Gordon to thank for it staying 2-0 just as the dust was settling on Cochrane’s goal with the veteran keeper denying Nicky Clark a goal from close range, tipping the striker’s effort over the bar.

United would grab one back soon afterwards though, Ryan Edwards cutting the deficit with an incredible long-range effort that Gordon couldn’t keep out.

Both sides were serving up a fantastic game of football and just as Hearts looked to make it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time Benji Siegrist made amends for his earlier mistake when he pulled off a stunning stop to deny Barrie McKay and keep the deficit at one as the teams went in at the break.

Soon after the restart, Hearts looked to have killed the game off as a contest when Ben Woodburn grabbed his second of the game when he fired into the top corner after Taylor Moore’s lay-off following a corner.

However, the Arabs weren’t done there and made it 3-2 through Nicky Clark’s header – the ex-Rangers striker getting onto the end of Freeman’s clever ball into the box to divert it low beyond Craig Gordon and set up a thrilling finale at Tynecastle.

It was a lovely bit of football by United and showed just how potent a threat the Terrors posed going forward as they tried to salvage something from the game and avoid back-to-back defeats.

After seeing the deficit again cut to one, Hearts pushed forward, Taylor Moore going close with a header from a corner that just went over Siegrist’s crossbar.

With 14 minutes left, Stephen Kingsley restored Hearts’ two-goal lead, powering a header beyond Siegrist from a free-kick and looking like – finally – putting an end to United’s resistance.

Just to put a seal on things, Hearts rounded off their afternoon with a fifth goal, Aaron McEneff scoring for the Jambos when he dinked the ball over Siegrist.

The win moves Hearts back into second place – one point ahead of Celtic with Ange Postecoglou’s side in action tomorrow against Dundee.

Hearts: Gordon, Kingsley, Souttar, Baningime, Woodburn, Devlin, Moore, Cochrane, McKay, Halkett, Ginnelly
Substitutes: Stewart, Haring, Walker, McEneff, Mackay-Steven, Gnanduillet, Logan

Dundee United: Siegrist, Mulgrew, Niskanen, Pawlett, Clark, Edwards, Glass, Freeman, Harkes, McMann, Fuchs
Substitutes: Newman, Appere, Mochrie, Biamou, Butcher, Hoti, K. Smith

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