Bordeaux 0 Hearts 1

Hearts gave themselves a great chance of progressing to the third round of the UEFA Cup after defeating Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Mark de Vries was the hero when he grabbed the only goal of the game with just 12 minutes remaining of the first leg tie to hand the Jambos one of their best results in Europe.

Michel Pavon's side now face a trip to Tynecastle knowing they have a mountain to climb to remain in the competition.

Hearts had made a reasonably comfortable job of dumping Bosnian side Zeljeznicar out of the first round of the UEFA Cup to book their meeting with Bordeaux.

But Hearts head coach Craig Levein knew that he would face a far sterner test from the French club.

A recent slump had seen boss Elie Baup sacked and replaced with Pavon in an attempt to halt the decline and he had responded to the task by leading Bordeaux to a draw and two wins from his first three games in charge.

Levein opted to ditch his usual 4-4-2 formation to play 3-6-1 instead with de Vries playing on his own up front.

Despite netting five goals in the last three games, Andy Kirk had to settle for a place on the bench.

Early attempts to make the most of de Vries ended in frustration for Hearts and their first real chance came when Robbie Neilson was brought down by Bruno Basto just outside the area and Hearts were awarded the free-kick but the chance was wasted when Jean Louis Valois curled the effort wide of the far post.

Hearts claimed the foul had actually taken place inside the area but Icelandic referee Kristinn Jakobsson was not interested in the penalty claims.

Bordeaux were unlucky not to take the lead after 27 minutes when David Jemmali unleashed a superb shot which took a deflection, making young goalkeeper Craig Gordon's block all the more impressive.

Hearts could have snatched the lead six minutes before the break when Valois played a free-kick out to Neilson on the right flank and he flighted a cross into the box.

Pascal Feindouno almost nodded the ball into his own net before it was eventually hooked away from the danger area.

It was Bordeaux who had the first real chance of the second half when Franck Jurietti flighted a long ball into the path of Jean-Claude Darcheville and he unleashed an impressive shot that looked netbound only for the effort to fall inches over the crossbar.

Darcheville had the opportunity to make amends a couple of minutes later when he met Jurietti's corner but this time he fired well wide of the upright.

Darcheville was creating all sorts of problems for Hearts and he had another chance when Marouane Chamakh squared the ball to his feet but he drove just wide of the post.

Seconds later Darcheville saw another shot cleared off the line by Andy Webster before Paulo Costa's rebound effort was held by Gordon.

Levein was forced into an unplanned change with just under 20 minutes remaining when Neilson was the victim of a rash challenge by Chamakh and he had to be replaced by Austin McCann.

With time running out, Bordeaux were desperate for the goal that would put them in the driving seat and that almost came when the ball broke to the feet of Mauricio Pochettino and he forced Gordon into another great save to keep the scoreline level.

Instead it was Hearts who surged into the lead. Paul Hartley flighted a long ball into the box and that was met by Kevin McKenna who bulleted a header at goal.

Bordeaux goalkeeper Ulrich Rame managed to push the effort onto the inside of the post but de Vries was waiting to pounce and fired home from close range after 78 minutes.

The French side piled forward in search of the equaliser - and Chamakh had a great chance in injury time - but they could not find the back of the net and now face a massive task at Tynecastle.

Teams

Bordeaux Rame, Alicarte, Basto, Jemmali, Jurietti (Deivid 80), Pochettino, Costa, Da Costa (Riera 66), Feindouno, Chamakh, Darcheville.

Subs Not Used: Roux, Caneira, Planus, Miranda, Sahnoun.

Booked: Chamakh.

Hearts Gordon, McKenna, Pressley, Webster, Neilson (McCann 72), Maybury, Stamp (Severin 79), Wyness, Valois (Hartley 68), Kisnorbo, de Vries.

Subs Not Used: Moilanen, MacFarlane, Kirk, Weir.

Goals: de Vries 78.

Att: 15,536

Ref: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland).


Taken from sportinglife.com