Hearts’ chances of moving on in the Europa Conference League were severely damaged on Thursday when Fiorentina outclassed them at Tynecastle.
The scottish team fell behind 2-0 at the break and then suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat in a one-sided game after teenager Lewis Neilson was dismissed early in the second half.
Fiorentina moved into second place in Group A as a result, passing Hearts. The Edinburgh team knows they must almost certainly avoid defeat to have any chance of moving on to the knockout stage as they travel to Florence for the rematch the following week.
Cammy Devlin, Alan Forrest, and Stephen Humphrys were replaced by Andy Halliday, Josh Ginnelly, and Jorge Grant in the Hearts starting lineup from last weekend’s 4-0 home loss to Rangers.
Fiorentina had only one victory in their previous ten games across all competitions when they traveled to Edinburgh, and they were at the bottom of their Conference League division with just one point. A strong team was sent out by their under-fire manager Vincenzo Italiano, who also included former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic after leaving him out of the lineup for Sunday’s Serie A loss at Atalanta.
Tynecastle was bouncing as the teams entered the field, but the hosts got off with the worst possible start when Fiorentina took the initiative with their first strike of the game in the fourth minute thanks to the unmarked Rolando Mandragora’s goal from Aleksa Terzic’s cross from the right.
In the eighth minute, Hearts made an attempt to respond, but Michael Smith nodded Halliday’s cross from the left straight into the arms of goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.
When Jovic connected with a corner from Cristiano Biraghi in the 13th minute, La Viola came within inches of expanding their lead.
Goalkeeper Craig Gordon had to make an impressive save in the 21st minute when he dove to his left to tip behind a 25-yard thunderbolt from Fiorentina center-back Igor. Hearts were struggling to gain any sort of foothold in the game.
After Hearts failed to get a ball into the box from the left, Christian Kouame pounced to slam home a loose ball from eight yards out, just as the hosts appeared to be weathering the storm. The second goal was conceded two minutes before halftime.
Right before halftime, the Jambos came close to regaining the lead, but Ginnelly was denied by Gollini after gaining space on the incline of the six-yard box.
Hearts had a promising second half, but when teenage center-back Neilson was sent off for a last-man foul on Jovic in the 49th, those hopes of a comeback were effectively dashed.
Jovic completed a counterattack from close range in the 78th minute to give Fiorentina the victory as Hearts searched for an unlikely way to get back into the game.
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