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Three goals in the opening 21 minutes - and three more late on - saw Hearts obliterate previously in-form Motherwell at Tynecastle.

Igor Rossi's header, Osman Sow's 11th of the season and a penalty from Gavin Reilly put the home team into an insurmountable lead in quick order.

Callum Paterson scored for the third successive game to make it four.

Juanma drove in a fifth and they made it six when Arnaud Djoum was taken down in the box and put away the penalty.

They thought they had a seventh, but it was ruled out. Seven wouldn't have flattered them, though. This was the hiding to beat all hidings.

Robbie Neilson's team duly narrowed the gap on second-place Aberdeen to three points in the most emphatic way before the Dons face Ross County in Dingwall on Sunday.

Mark McGhee had spoken of Hearts' robustness during the week but how the Motherwell manager must have longed for some of the qualities of the hosts - the power, the pace, precision, the appetite for work, the desperate hunger for goals.

Hearts went ahead after Billy King's corner was glanced in by Rossi, the ball crossing the line before Motherwell could bang it clear.

In the relative blink of an eye, they doubled their lead when Motherwell stood off Sow and invited the striker to have a pot at goal. The big man obliged and rifled his left-shot shot low past Connor Ripley.

Motherwell were in a state of befuddlement. Their midfield was bossed, their defence was susceptible to Hearts' cleverness in attack. What is impressive about Neilson's side is, of course, their commitment and power and all those other things that some other players, and managers, seem to have a problem with.

But it's a one-dimensional and pretty daft analysis. There's a whole lot more to them than grunt.

Hearts' work rate is high and their ability to get men forward at pace is hard to cope with at times. The swiftness of their movement in the final third can be terrific. The pressure they apply and their capacity to execute makes them a handful when they're at their best.

Callum Paterson (left) celebrates after scoring his third goal in three games

In those early minutes, when the game was won, Motherwell couldn't deal with them.

Their third goal came before a quarter of the match was over. More gaps opened up in the Motherwell defence and the busy Reilly was brought down by Ripley. It was an obvious penalty, but was it a red card also?

Kevin Clancy, the referee, said no and that was about the sum total of McGhee's good news in what was a devastating opening sell. From the spot, Reilly added another layer to Motherwell's misery mountain.

Motherwell were more competitive in the second half. Too little, too late. Scott McDonald could and should have scored midway through when he headed wide and Wes Fletcher spurned a fine chance when through on goal.

Paterson added the fourth and also his seventh of the season. Quite a player, Paterson.

And quite a day for the Jambos when Juanma and Djoum completed the landslide in the snow.