Hearts were seconds away from a deserved draw against Viktoria Plzen until a stoppage-time own goal by Daniel Oyegoke gave the Czechs victory. A 0-0 scoreline in the Doosan Arena would have been welcomed by the Edinburgh club and left them slight favourites for the return leg of this play-off match. Substitute Oyegoke managed to convert Plzen replacement Cadu’s cross into his own net off the post to decide the first leg of this Europa League play-off 1-0.
Since 2017, only Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich had won at this modest venue. Hearts had opportunities to score, notably late in the first half, and were certainly a match for their hosts. One of the most important aspects of the evening was their control in possession of the ball.
The winners progress to the new-look league stage of the Europa League, whilst the losers drop into the Conference League. Hearts headed off into the night sky knowing they have what it takes to go through and will now gear up for Motherwell away in the league before taking on Plzen again in Edinburgh next Thursday. With a full Tynecastle, they will still be hopeful of progress.
This was a determined, disciplined and efficient Hearts performance away from home in Europe. It was also one which was much-needed following domestic losses at Falkirk and Dundee. Those two games led to concerns ahead of the trip to Czech Republic. What transpired was the kind of response desired. Head coach Steven Naismith would have noted the raised performance level from every one of his players.
Craig Gordon made history in this match with his 23rd European appearance for Hearts at the age of 41. That eclipsed the previous record of 22 set by Steven Pressley and Henry Smith. Fellow goalkeeper Zander Clark was missing due to a back complaint, so Ryan Fulton was named substitute keeper.
A fervid atmosphere took hold as kick-off approached as Plzen locals turned out alongside more than 600 Hearts supporters in a crowd of around 10,000. It was the away section making most noise before the match on a warm evening in west Czechia. They had enjoyed Plzen’s selection of beers before strolling 15 minutes out to the Doosan Arena.
Once inside, Viktoria attempted to turn up the heat. They used giant striker Daneil Vasulin’s aerial threat with quick balls forward but also utilised wing-backs to good effect. An 18th-minute cross found Milan Havel at the back post for a free header after he evaded the Hearts defender Gerald Taylor. Thankfully, Gordon pulled off a vital reaction save at his near post. Seconds later, Jorge Grant cleared the impressive Pavel Sulc’s low drive almost off the visitors’ goal line.
Hearts needed to stave off some concerted pressure at that stage as Plzen moved the ball around at tempo. Sulc was the principal orchestrator. Havel met Erik Jirka’s 35th-minute cross from the left for a glancing header which bounced narrowly beyond Gordon’s left post. A number of the away side tried to slow the game down with some time-wasting tactics and the German referee Sven Jablonski intervened with a warning.
Hearts came to life near the end of the first period and fashioned three decent opportunities. When Kye Rowles’ clever flick found Kenneth Vargas racing through, he lofted the ball over the advancing Czech goalkeeper Marian Tvrdon and fell to the turf inside the penalty area. However, referee Jablonski was unmoved and the danger cleared.
Then Grant’s forward ball found the energetic Devlin for a lay-off to Lawrence Shankland. His effort from 20 yards stung Tvrdon’s palms. Those were still rasping moments later when the keeper blocked an even more vicious shot from the Tynecastle captain following Vargas’ pass. At the break, although Hearts had been under pressure, they were also perhaps slightly unfortunate not to be ahead given that late flurry.
Shankland’s intelligent reverse pass sent Vargas through for a shot early in the second period, although the Costa Rican’s finish was high. Plzen then appealed for a penalty when Lukas Cerv fell going past Malachi Boateng inside the box, but both the referee and VAR disagreed. Gordon stopped Jan Kopic’s shot and Cerv beat the turf in anger as the hosts strove to gain an advantage in this tie.
Fittingly in his home country, the away support broke into a chant about Rudi Skacel being a goal machine. Not all of the lyrics are appropriate for a family newspaper but the tribute to one of their icons was timely. Approaching the hour mark, everything was going to plan for Hearts. The 0-0 scoreline suited them more than Viktoria ahead of next week’s second leg at Tynecastle.
The Czech coach Miroslav Koubek cut a frustrated figure on the touchline. The collective unity shown by the Hearts players had them in a good position and was in fair contrast to their previous two fixtures at Falkirk and Dundee. Koubek introduced attacking substitutes as Naismith brought on Daniel Oyegoke and Blair Spittal for the final 15 minutes.
Sulc struck a shot which deflected off Stephen Kingsley on 78 minutes. Shankland was replaced by Liam Boyce and Plzen were by now committing bodies to attack at every opportunity. Gordon touched a looping cross by substitute Matej Vydra onto his crossbar in stoppage-time.
Then came the heartache when Oyegoke’s knee inadvertently knocked Cadu’s cross into the Hearts net via the post with substitute Jhon Mosquera in attendance. The Hearts players looked dejected as the Plzen bench erupted in joy. The visitors’ display deserved a draw but this was also a lesson that European football is unforgiving and ruthless. That said, they will still be confident of overturning the one-goal deficit back in Edinburgh.
Here are the Hearts player ratings from Plzen:
13. SUB: Liam Boyce (for Shankland, 80 mins)
3/10 Brought on to give Shankland a rest and used his experience in attack. | SNS Group
