UEFA Conference League Match Day 6/6
Hearts’ 100th match in Europe was an unmissable affair, the four goal thriller was quite a spectacle. But a draw against the Moldovan side wasn’t enough to see Hearts progress to the play-offs.
Going into the final match day of the group stage, Petrocub sat second bottom of the Conference League table, their campaign inevitably and mathematically over. Despite the home club’s poor form, Neil Critchley spoke to the media earlier in the week stating that he, “won’t underestimate Petrocub” but the doubters pointed to Hearts’ three losses in Europe – in a row.
The Jambos had been flying high in the Conference, but the losses had seen the side plummet from 6th to 23rd in the Conference League table. A win against the Moldovan side would be enough to qualify for an unseeded playoff position despite the recent fall of form.
Hearts also tumbled to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership last Sunday, following a 1-0 defeat to a 10 man Kilmarnock side. In one of their worst performances of the season, it was inevitable that Neil Crichtley had to make four changes for the Conference League tie.
Skipper, Lawrence Shankland led the line and returned to the side after suspension. Yan Dhanda, James Wilson and Macaulay Tait were all handed a start in the European fixture. Blair Spittal, Malachi Boateng, Musa Drammeh and Kenneth Varagas were all dropped to the bench after the Ayrshire defeat. Midfielder Beni Baningime was missing from the squad, due to a knee injury.
With millions of pounds worth of prize money on the line, the pressure was on for the inconsistent side from Gorgie.
Hearts started off on the front foot, wing-backs Penrice and Oyegoke bolted up the right and left hand side of the field, causing all sorts of problems for the Petrocub defence. Despite their efforts, no one in the final third could pick up their chances.
Eight minutes in, first chance on target from Hearts. Dhanda put in a long ball into the box from the left hand side of the pitch. Penrice got on the end of it and the young winger Wilson had a shot from 12 yards out, but Douabla blocked and the ball fell to the Moldovan keeper.
Alan Forrest won a free kick in the Hearts half after a foul, Dumitru Demain was shown the first yellow card of the game 17 minutes in. Penrice took the free kick and by the time the ball hit the ground, Petrocub were forced into conceding a corner. Dhanada takes the corner high to Rowles who is given the space but cannot find the target and the ball goes wide.
First chance for Petrocub came from captain Vladimir Ambros, his solo run through the middle of the pitch from the halfway line to outside the box. Given far too much space, he picked out team mate Sergiu Platica perfectly. Platica capitalised on this chance and struck the bottom right hand side of Gordon’s goal. Petroclub broke the deadlock and scored only their third goal of the campaign.
The boys in maroon looked stunned, despite all their efforts they were one – nil down at home, after 20 minutes. Calls for an offside was all the Gorgie faithful were crying out for. After several minutes VAR ruled the goal was onside.
Hearts looked changed after this, summing up their season perfectly. Despite creating great chances, a quick Petrocub counter attack ends up in the back of the net and they have an even bigger mountain to climb.
The stands of Tynecastle fall eerily quiet as they have watched seen this same story unfold before.
32 minutes in and Hearts centre-back, Knowles, put in a long ball into the box from the halfway line and hit Shankland who flicked it on. Wilson got himself in front of the Petrocub defence but Smalenea stood tall as the players collided and the ball went out of play. Shouts from the Jambos for a penalty ,but referee Ondrej Berka maintains it’s just a goal kick and nothing more.
Less than a minute later, Ion Jardan was given yet more space and ran up the right side of the pitch, and crossed over to Demain at the back post, who could not find the target as his header went wide.
Another convincing ball from Penrice on the left flew into the box and found Shankland’s head. However the referee was quick to blow his whistle, and the collision between Shankland and Smalenea was deemed a foul.
Going into the second half placed 26th in the Conference , a change was inevitable for the second half, Blair Spittal on for Alan Forrest, to the delight of the Gorgie faithful.
Chances created were all Hearts, the first of the half came in the 57th minute, Spittal and Penrice linking up in the left hand side. Penrice, with the ball into the box, found Dhanda who had a shot on goal, but a deflection from the Petrocub defender found the keeper’s hands.
In the 63rd minute, Penrice was once again urged further up the field, struck the ball from the halfway line, to Shankland in the box and to the 17 year old Wilson who struck the ball low, into the Petrocub net and levelled for Hearts. His goal now makes the academy graduate the youngest ever UECL scorer. Celebrations are muted despite teenager Wilson’s third goal of the season. A draw wouldn’t be enough to progress further into the competition.
Double change for Hearts after 68 minutes, Tait off for Jorge Grant and Halkett off for Boateng.
Not even a minute later, Dhanda struck the ball from the right of the penalty box. The ball meets birthday-boy, Blair Spittal, who was left open to neatly head the ball into the top right corner of the net. The perfect birthday present for Spittal and the European dream was on. The jammy Jambos were 2-1 up, meaning Hearts had moved up to 18th in the table and, if they maintained this score, qualification was guaranteed.
‘Merry Christmas everyone’ boomed around the stadium, the Georgie faithful singing merrily.
The thought of Hearts progressing through to a European play off for the first time in 35 years felt like Christmas had come early for the fans, who haven’t had much to cheer about in the past couple of months.
After the second goal, Andrei Martin made three changes to his side. Immediately off the bench, Nihaev put in a cross and picked up the freeman Jardan at the back post. Gordon spreaded himself wide and the attempt on goal was blocked by his long legs. On the rebound, Platica instantly struck for goal again. James Penrice at the back attempts to block the shot and carelessly put his arms up in the air. The away side immediately shouted for handball , but the referee did not signal. Burka is then told by VAR to go and look at the monitor. Many football fans know that if a referee is asked to look at a monitor, the vast majority of the time, that means they will overturn their decision, on field.
The referee pointed to the spot and Petrocub were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute. This was not in the script for the side in the lead. Victor Mudrac looked confident approaching the penalty spot, he struck the ball and buried it on the bottom left hand side of the goal, sending Gordon in the wrong direction.
Petrocub equalised with 7 minutes to go.
Hearts were stunned and knew their European chances were slipping out of their hands. No real chances came after the equaliser. Petrocub tried to cling on to a draw. Hearts threw men forward, but look weak and nervous. Penrice was booked with only seconds remaining, desperation for the boys in maroon.
After 97 minutes of action , the referee blew the whistle.
Boos from all around the stadium rang out and relentless abuse targeted at the manager and players. Tynecastle had turned from triumph to toxic. Hearts had missed out on a European place by one position (25th) behind FK TSC Backa Topola on goals scored.
Bitterly disappointed fans watched their team fall to bottom of the Scottish Premiership and suffer a draw, which felt like a defeat, resulting in them crashing out of theConference league – all in the space of five days. A draw against Petrocub finishing rock bottom in the league was unacceptable for fans.Things could not be going worse for new manager Neil Critchely.
The media spoke to to a very somber Neil Critchely post match:
“You can only respond, you have a couple of choices – our choice is to show fight, togetherness and spirit. I’m still confident there’s more than enough in the dressing-room to improve our situation.”
“It’s natural to feel a certain way when you’re not producing the results we want, that’s human nature. When you’re winning games and scoring goals everyone is playing with confidence and freedom. When we were in the ascendancy and on the front foot, the supporters got behind us. When we were losing they were understandably frustrated so you have to rise above that noise and block it out. That’s football now, that’s not just at Tynecastle that’s everywhere.”
Major disappointment from both fans and manager. The impact of the poor run of form has cost the club around £1 million, which could have been vital for rescuing the team from relegation. The Jambos now have a jam packed schedule, with three more Scottish Premiership match days left of the calendar year. Hearts host, 11th in the league, St Johnstone on the 22nd December, the turn around of this will be a big task. Petrocub have their sights on defending their Super Liga title,
The job at Hearts is massive. This was Hearts’ 100th in European Competition but possibly the last for a long time.
Attendance: 17,103
