Hearts debrief: Lawrence Shankland's huge performance, Cammy Devlin's defensive work, Hearts double-sub

A look back at last night’s match at Tynecastle Park as Hearts defeated Rosenborg 3-1 (4-3 on aggregate) to make it to the play-off round of the Europa Conference League.

Cammy Devlin celebrates scoring the winning goal at Tynecastle Park as Hearts defeat Rosenborg in the Europa Conference League. Picture: SNS

Player of the match

It was the right time for Lawrence Shankland to put in a talismanic performance. Not only did the striker score a vitally important equaliser, he also played a role in both the second and third goal, while his general play was outstanding. He tired a little in the final 20 minutes and wasn’t as involved, but before then he constantly made the ball stick and his movement in the final third was top notch.

Defining moment

It’s got to be Cammy Devlin’s injury-time winner. It lifted the roof off Tynecastle Park and capped off an incredible evening’s football in the Capital. The diminutive Australian came up with a huge performance in the centre, even without his two goals. After netting the second and making a couple of necessary subs to combat tiring legs, Hearts lost control of the game a bit with Rosenborg putting in some pressure. Several defensive Hearts players deserve credit for keeping the score at 2-1 during this period and arguably none more so than Devlin.

Ref watch

David Fuxman infuriated the crowd on many occasions with his decision-making. He seemed to let go a number of shoves from defending players, but was too quick to punish tackles which were robust and won the football. Although, the home faithful can perhaps be thankful he missed a challenge from young Aidan Denholm which did appear a little high and could have put Hearts into serious trouble.

Benefit of hindsight

You could maybe question the introduction of Kyosuke Tagawa and Alan Forrest as neither made much of an impact and Hearts dropped off after the change, but it all worked out in the end with Devlin grabbing the late winner. It’s also possible it was a deliberate tactic to save some energy with the possibility of extra-time looming.

Moment you may have missed

There was a bit of a spat involving the two benches following a collision on the edge of the Rosenborg box in the first half. Gordon Forrest could be seen gesturing to an opposition coach to ‘sit down’.