Recent Edinburgh derbies have been extremely tight affairs, so it was a surprise when this one started so openly.
Andrew Driver looked especially dangerous down the left as in the opening stages he was getting crosses in at will.
Just four minutes in, one such Driver foray and ball in found Michael Stewart at the near post, but he could not find the target from close range.
The home side were next to threaten ten minutes in with a Derek Riordan shot coming back off the stanchion.
The right foot shot from 25 yards was very similar to a goal he scored against Hearts in his first spell at Hibs, but this time luck favoured the stranded Janos Balogh.
After Riordan's near miss, Hibs fans only had to wait a further four minutes for the opening goal.
A superb ball from Denes Rosa sent Alan O'Brien clear down the right and his cross was met by the shoulder of Steven Fletcher and the ball looped over Balogh and into the net.
In a typical Hibs fashion, an equaliser was almost gifted to the visitors midway through the first half.
A catastrophic back pass by Sol Bamba put Christian Nade in, but the striker delayed too long and Grzegorz Szamotulski was able to spare Bamba's blushes by diving at Nade's feet and helping the ball to safety.
Hearts suffered a real blow minutes later when Driver, easily their best performer, was forced off with a hamstring strain.
Just before half-time, the already exciting match exploded into life.
Firstly Colin Nish played in Fletcher, who just beat the out-rushing Balogh to the ball and was brought down by the keeper, with Charlie Richmond left with no option but to send the player off.
Then came a more contentious sending off, which left the teams with ten men each.
Bamba was adjudged to have been the last man in bringing down Nade and was also shown a straight red card.
The resulting free-kick was fired at goal by Stewart and only a brilliant save by Szamotulski turned the shot onto the post as Hibs ended the half just ahead.
After such an explosive first half, it was inevitable that the second period could not be quite so open. In fact we had to wait until the 72nd minute to have the first incident of note.
Riordan's chipped through ball beat the offside trap but, one-on-one with Jamie MacDonald, Fletcher did not keep his composure and his shot was turned round the post by the replacement keeper.
Hibs were almost made to pay for that missed opportunity five minutes from time as, after a aerial scramble in the box, Nade got a header towards goal only to see the ball come back of the crossbar and cleared to safety.