Hearts’ hopes of making it to the Europa League were dashed when they suffered a fifth consecutive defeat, losing 2–0 on aggregate in a play-off tie against Viktoria Plzen.
The Edinburgh side – who trailed 1-0 in the first leg in the Czech Republic a week ago – were level until the 76th minute of the second leg at Tynecastle, when Lukas Serva’s goal ended the hosts’ challenge.
Steven Naismith’s side, who have failed to win any of their opening six games this season, can at least be relieved to know they will progress to Friday’s UEFA Conference League group stage draw.
Five changes have been made to the side that lost 3-1 at Motherwell on Sunday, while Naismith’s side is identical to the one that lost 1-0 at Plzen last Thursday.
The most notable news for the Jambos was that talismanic captain Lawrence Shankland was unable to play in the match at the weekend due to a knee problem, so Liam Boyce – who has been badly affected by injury over the past two years – was inserted into attack.
Plzen, who reached the last eight of the Conference League last season, lost the services of key defender Robin Hranak after the first leg after they sold the Czech international to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim earlier this week.
Hearts had the first notable effort in the seventh minute when Cameron Devlin struck an angled shot after Gerald Taylor’s strike came to him on the right edge of the box.
The hosts had possession for most of the game but had to wait until the 36th minute for their first clear chance when Taylor’s long throw-in reached Costa Rica international Kenneth Vargas on the line of the penalty spot but the striker hit his half-volley high over the goal.
Plzen, who initially seemed content to frustrate the Edinburgh side, finished the half strongly.
Daniel Vasulin had three big chances to score for the visitors a few minutes before the interval but the striker was denied by excellent goal-saving tackles from Stephen Kingsley and then Taylor before he could head the ball away from goal with a header from a corner.
He looked disappointed when Hearts’ Liam Boyce was selected as a substitute
Hearts applied some pressure early in the second half but Plzen did well to thwart the home side’s attempts to come back.
The visitors almost took the lead in the 64th minute but goalkeeper Craig Gordon made a superb save to deny Vasulin, who headed in from 12 yards.
The Jambos fielded creative players such as Blair Spittal, Yan Dhanda and Yutaro Oda and switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-2-3-1, and came agonizingly close in the 75th minute when Marion Twardon’s defending kept both Taylor and Kingsley from getting a breakthrough.
The goalkeeper’s intervention proved crucial, as his side went 2–0 up on aggregate a minute later when Serva hit a low shot from the edge of the box after Frankie Kent’s loose pass gave Cech the chance to counter-attack from the right.
