No fears for Hearts in return to centre stage

Late goals from Ibrahim Tall and Roman Bednar, after Branimir Anic had struck an own goal, secured a three-goal cushion in the first leg of the second qualifying round at Murrayfield to rendered next week’s return game in Bosnia meaningless.

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The occasion was a reward for finishing second in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague last May and Murrayfield hosted Hearts’ return to the Continent’s premier tournament after an absence of 46 years. Now, the adventure will certainly have another chapter.

Bednar took advantage of a bad passback by Ivica Landeka to guide in an 84th-minute finish to assure Hearts of progress to the third qualifying round. The dream, though, is to embrace the lucrative group stages beyond that.

Hearts’ decision to move the second round qualifying tie to Murrayfield certainly paid off. More than 28,000 people turned out on a sultry night in Edinburgh, despite the match being shown live on terrestrial television. All were shirt-sleeved — apart from the pocket of 30 bare-chested Siroki followers — which ensured Valdas Ivanauskas’s side enjoyed a colourful maroon and white backdrop at Scotland’s national rugby stadium.

Siroki arrived with little or no reputation. The Bosnian champions have ascended from obscurity to reach Europe’s premier club tournament. They never troubled the top-flight before the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and worked their way up from the Bosnian regional league. Their side was a patchwork of Bosnians, Croatians and three Brazilians.

Hearts, though, are a cosmopolitan bunch themselves. Greek, Czech, Portuguese, Sengalese and Lithuanian voices augmented the five native Scots. One of the Lithuanians, Deividas Cesnauskis, was proving a creative source in the opening stages as he shredded Dalibor Silic on the right flank. From his first delivery, Bednar glanced a header just wide and then Cesnauskis picked out Neil McCann with another measured cross at the back post only for the Scotland player’s downward header to miss the target.

Bruno Aguiar then had a free kick that was nervously swatted away by Tomislav Basic, the goalkeeper, before Cesnauskis and McCann combined for Bednar to hook his shot over the bar.

Siroki’s record last season in domestic football illustrated that they were a side who could eke out games thanks to a parsimonious defence, often winning just 1-0 as they did home and away to FC Shakytor, of Belarus, in the last round.

They were content to soak up the Hearts’ pressure — Edgaras Jankauskas just failing to turn in another teasing McCann cross — and eventually they carved out a real threat just seven minutes before the interval. A foul on the Celson, the Brazilian striker, allowed his compatriot, Wagner, to curl a 25-yard free kick narrowly over Craig Gordon’s bar.

The frustration that surfaced in the Murrayfield crowd before half-time was replaced by raucous support in the second half and those Hearts fans got their reward when their team went ahead after 54 minutes.

Yet another prodigious throw-in from Robbie Neilson created panic in the Siroki defence as the ball flew into the six-yard box. Steven Pressley’s presence upset his markers and in the confusion, Anic, the Siroki defender, diverted the ball past Basic with his head.

Hearts and their supporters now sensed the contest had swung their way. The objective was to find another goal to take to Bosnia next week and Cesnauskis came close in the 66th minute, when he danced past three tackles en route to the box and swept a curling shot just wide of the post.

Celson almost silenced Murrayfield when he eluded Pressley to slip the ball against the post but the forward was cautioned for stealthily using his hand to control the ball.

Hearts then struck the woodwork a few minutes later as Agiuar’s measured free kick from outside the box clipped the bar with Basic beaten.

The quest took on a fevered look but the goal Ivanauskas and his team craved arrived 13 minutes from the end. Michal Pospisil’s surge down the right finished with a low cross that was met by Ibrahim Tall’s run. The Senegalese player mishit his first effort but recovered his composure to thrash a right foot shot beyond Basic.

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN (4-4-2): C Gordon — R Neilson, S Pressley, C Berra, P Fyssas — D Cesnauskis, I Tall, B Aguiar (sub: J Brellier, 88min), N McCann (sub: S Mikoliunas, 56) — E Jankauskas (sub: M Pospisil, 56), R Bednar. Substitutes not used: S Banks, J Mole, J Neill, A Driver.

NK SIROKI BRIJEG (3-5-2): T Basic — B Pandza, I Landeka, D Silic — I Bubalo (sub: P Doci, 59), B Anic, Wagner, A Carvalho (sub: J Papic, 84), R Gomes — Celson, M Karoglan (sub: M Kovacic, 83). Substitutes not used: V Vasilj, J Lukacevic, M Studenovic, N Dzidic.
Booked: Wagner, Gomes, Celson
Referee: E Berntsen (Norway).

Taken from timesonline.co.uk