Hearts' faint Champions League hopes washed away amid fresh injury concerns

There is no group of fans in the land with more reason to be realistic than hard-bitten Hearts supporters. They had reconciled themselves to dropping down into Europa League qualifying long before the final whistle. Indeed, most had accepted this following the 4-0 defeat in Austria last week.

As well as saying goodbye to goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, Hearts had him to thank for preventing a comprehensive defeat on home turf as well. However, the 34-year-old could not enjoy the satisfaction of keeping a clean sheet in his final appearance before joining his family back in Germany.

He was beaten by a crisp finish from Simon Seidl midway through the second half. Schwolow was then desperately unfortunate when the ball rebounded off Emran Soglo and into the net four minutes later after the keeper had made another fine block. At 2-0 down, and trailing 6-0 on aggregate, it was game well and truly over.

There was even a smattering of booing amid a fairly large exodus. Even these Hearts supporters have a limit of human endurance. No goals in either leg is hard to bear.

The hosts had needed an early breakthrough here. An early corner, which saw Claudio Braga wave his arms in the air in an attempt to whip up the crowd, amounted to nothing. While the Hearts support was stout throughout it was the away fans who could settle into a relaxed, rhythmic form of backing that rarely wavered. They have every reason to bang the drum after their side secured a place in the third round of Champions League qualifying.

Benfica or St Gallen await Hearts

As for Hearts, they head for a daunting assignment against either Benfica or St. Gallen with plenty of regrets. Of course, as much as they tried to retrieve it here, the tie wasn’t lost in Edinburgh. To overturn a four-goal deficit needed a performance for the ages, something that was beyond a new Hearts team still in the early days of gelling.

The heavy first-half downpour had some imagining a special night under the Tynecastle floodlights, one where players slid in goals from all angles. Instead it became a bit of a damp squib. If not early, then the feeling was that Hearts needed to score at least before half time. They could do neither. The away side came closest.

Hearts were reliant on a remarkable double save from Schwolow to keep the score level on the night after 25 minutes. They were also fortunate that a very nonchalant tap in by Seedy Jetta a minute later was chalked off after a VAR check because the striker was adjudged to have tripped Harry Milne in the box.

Fabio Ingolitsch, the Sturm Graz manager, confidently predicted the hosts would make “four or five” changes. In the event, it was just three – Sabri Guendouz, Jordi Altena and Stephen Kingsley came in, the latter wearing the armband before he was replaced on the stroke of half time by Stuart Findlay after sustaining what looked like a hamstring injury.

Ingolitsch didn’t even get his own team right. Having strongly hinted that Otar Kiteishvili would play after recovering from a muscle injury, the Georgian dangerman started on the bench – as he did last week. Sent on at half time in Graz, he set up one of his side’s three second-half goals as the tie lurched out of Hearts’ grasp. In the event, the midfielder, described by his manager as the best player in Austria, wasn’t even required to make an appearance.

Hearts had their moments. Blair Spittal came close with a couple of efforts in the first half. But it wasn’t until Calvin Miller flashed in a shot just before the hour mark that Hearts managed to truly trouble opposition keeper Daniil Khudiakov. Attacker Szymon Wlodarczyk was then in the right place at the right time to clear Oisin McEntee’s glancing header off the line.

Hearts lacked the quality to make a difference and were downed by two goals in four second-half minutes. Seidl finished unerringly inside Schwolow’s far post following a simple long ball from the back after 64 minutes before Soglo wrapped things up after an incisive run down the left channel.

Hearts then made changes. Amadou Ba-Sy came on for Guendouz but by this point it was a move designed to get some minutes into the big striker’s legs for the weekend trip to Aberdeen. The same applied to Pierre Landry Kabore, a replacement for Miller. Amid everything, fortune also deserted Hearts. Key player Alexandros Kyziridis limped off towards the end. It never rains but it pours.