Anguish in Gorgie as Hearts fall
MAKE some noise, the Gorgie boys … are out of Europe? That doesn’t have the same ring to it as the actual words of a ditty heard round these parts often enough since Hearts started powering towards a Europa League slot last season.
As their hopes of reaching the group stage were torn asunder by Maltese minnows administering a mugging at Tynecastle, however, the home fans definitely generated plenty of decibels. Mostly boos and anguished cries of frustration as Hearts crashed to a 2-1 home loss that saw them go out by the same aggregate score.
On a night when Prince Buaben was culpable of a horrible penalty miss, Birkirkara defender Cain Attard escaped a red card and Hearts twice hit the crossbar, Robbie Neilson’s men were ultimately left rueing failings at both ends of the park.
Having failed to break down determined but limited opponents, the hosts were stunned when centre-half Christian Bubalovic put the visitors ahead early in the second half — and were all but flattened when striker Edward Herrera grabbed a second away goal after 67 minutes.
Although the home side rallied to grab a goal back through Conor Sammon, they could not see off opponents who celebrated a famous result that earns them a tie against Russian side Krasnodar in the third qualifying round.
At least one Hearts player, Callum Paterson, had been left vomiting on the pitch at the end of the first leg in Malta. The humidity, more than the heat, took its toll on plenty.
Last night, they were surely all left feeling slightly sickened by the collection of calamities that combined to undo all of their best efforts against a Birkirkara side who set up with two strikers — and did more than just defend.
Winning their first corner within the opening two minutes, they very nearly scored indirectly from the set-piece, the initial clearance only resulting in Srdjan Dimitrov sending over an inswinging cross that beat everyone bar Jack Hamilton at his left-hand post.
The Hearts goalie just managed to scramble the ball clear — then made a truly stunning point-blank save as Joseph Zerafa looked to bury the rebound for the earliest of openers.
There were some worrying signs for Hearts. Dimitrov, playing in behind the front two, was a constant menace.
Yet Hearts surely had the better players. With the guile of Sam Nicholson on the left and Paterson on the right giving the hosts a more direct threat, they were always going to create chances.
Jamie Walker came close to burying the best of those with 26 minutes gone, his spectacular bicycle kick leaving the Birkirkara crossbar shaking long after visiting goalie Miroslav Kopric had looked on as the ball screamed past his outstretched hand.
The move to carve open that chance for Walker — right-back Liam Smith playing an excellent through ball and Paterson standing up a delicious cross — suggested one potential way for Hearts to break through.
The other was simply to let Nicholson’s dancing feet mesmerise the visiting defenders into doing something stupid. Having duped one defender into a mad challenge worthy of a yellow card, he then won Hearts a penalty with just over 10 minutes of the first half remaining.
Making Attard look uncomfortable as he danced past him and along the byeline, Nicholson was clearly clipped from behind. Referee Ville Nevalainen had no doubt about the foul — but, inexplicably, failed to show a yellow card to a player booked just three minutes earlier for a heavy challenge on Nicholson.
What happened next? Well, if you remember Simone Zaza’s appalling stutter-step run-up and miss in Italy’s Euro 2016 shoot-out loss to Germany, you have some idea of what Buaben did with this spot-kick.
No, it wasn’t as bad as Zaza’s. We’ll never see anything quite so bizarre again. But he did seem intent on sort of creeping up on the ball, rather than running at it. And his attempted finish, while on target, definitely lacked conviction.
There was some suggestion that the Birkirkara bench had passed on instructions to goalkeeper Kopric, telling him that the shot would be to his left. In truth, he could have simply stuck out a leg and trapped it.
Hearts threw everything at the visitors before half-time, rampaging left-back Faycal Rherras firing a shot just off target and a Walker effort being cleared off the line.
If their failure to get the go-ahead goal was a problem, at least Neilson’s men didn’t look like conceding. Indeed, they looked solid enough right up until the moment, 10 minutes into the second half, when the visitors grabbed their goal.
A free-kick into the box by that man Dimitrov wasn’t cleared and, as the ball bounced around the box, Bubalovic swung one of his long legs — and connected with a shot that rifled high into the net.
This was now officially a crisis. Hearts responded, of course, with Nicholson smashing a shot against the crossbar, sub Juanma forcing a fine save from Kopric and Arnaud Djoum blasting the rebound over.
When Hearts inevitably left gaps at the back by chasing the two goals they needed, Birkirkara exploited them, Herrera slotting the ball between the legs of Hamilton.
Sammon’s headed goal provided hope, nothing more. Hearts needed another couple of goals. Too much to ask. Too familiar a tale, one of early exits and heartbreaking humiliations, for followers of the Scottish game.