Hearts 3 - 0 NK Siroki Brijeg

Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts manager, said last night his side had "to be careful" against Siroki Brijeg in the return leg in Bosnia despite holding a three-goal advantage.

The Lithuanian raised the spectre of Celtic's heavy 5-0 defeat away to Artmedia Bratislava as an indication of the need for his team to stay focused next week.
In reality, however, it is outwith the realms of possibility that Hearts will collapse away from home against such mediocre opposition.
Ivanauskas' cautious words are the ones muttered time and time again by managers trying to guard his players against complacency.

On the one hand last night he was talking about Celtic's Champions League qualifying tournament defeat last season while on the other admitting his team were in the driving seat going into the away leg in Bosnia.
"Bratislava scored five goals against Celtic last season, so that sort of thing can happen, but we do have a good chance of making the next round," said the Hearts manager. "This is an important result for us but we must be careful in the second leg."

Ivanauskas was more downbeat than even the Siroki manager, Ivica Barbaria, who all but admitted the tie was over.
"Hearts are a better team than us," said Barbaria, who went on to criticise the referee for not penalising Robbie Neilson for what he claimed were a number of foul-throws. "The referee helped them when the Hearts player put his feet on the line when throwing-in and Hearts do not need any help, as they are a good team."

The unlikely figure of Ibrahim Tall proved to be the Hearts hero in what was a polished performance. The Senegalese internationalist was given a midfield role in the absence of the injured Paul Hartley and took his chance with aplomb.
It was a challenge from Tall from a Neilson throw-in which put defender Branimir Anic under so much pressure he headed into his own net.
There was no mistaking the quality of the second goal 12 minutes from time as Tall stormed into the box, shrugging off a couple of challenges, before firing home.

The third goal came from Roman Bednar six minutes from time and sent the 28,000 crowd at Murrayfield into raptures.
This was a fine, disciplined performance from Hearts, whose players were supremely fit. They hardly wasted any possession, never lost their concentration, but if there was one slight criticism it was the fact that they badly missed an inspirational player in midfield.
With Hartley injured and Rudi Skacel in the stands after falling out with the club, the middle third of the park is the main area that Hearts have to strengthen to ensure a decent run in the Champions League.
Julien Brellier came on near the end but, without Hartley, Hearts will always look a bit lacklustre even in victory.

Their makeshift middle four didn't work all the time last night, with the experiment of throwing Neil McCann in for his first competitive match since January backfiring badly when he had to go off injured early in the second half.
Tall was given a central midfield role and battled superbly well but is not the man to play telling passes in behind defences.
Bruno Aguiar came close to scoring with 15 minutes left only to see his perfectly flighted free kick coming back off the junction of post and bar, but he was too pedestrian for most of the match.

It was a fascinating tactical battle, with the Bosnians struggling to get to grips with Hearts' 4-4-2 formation. The visitors sat back for long periods inviting the home side on to them and that tactic backfired as Hearts flooded forward in the second half.
The Tynecastle outfit started superbly and although McCann missed a simple header with just 10 minutes on the clock you felt more chances would be coming and so it proved. Hearts saw plenty of the ball but the service up to Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar, who missed a great chance to score just after half-time, was poor.
Clearly, the Hearts players were told to up their work-rate in the second half and they played some classy football. The Bosnians were pinned back for long periods and Hearts were worthy of their three second-half goals.

Captain Steven Pressley was rightly a bit more upbeat than his manager and praised his team's patience.
He said: "Make no mistake, European football is very difficult and they were a very good side. In the end, the pressure paid off and we got a fantastic 3-0 win. It was an excellent performance tonight.
"At times the crowd showed their frustration, but we stuck to the task and we had spoken at half-time about patience.
"The important thing is we did not concede goals and we have a very good cushion for the second leg next week."

Once again the Tynecastle defence looked a strong and solid unit, even without Andy Webster, who will leave the club in the next few weeks.
Having a rock-solid defence in Europe is vital for any side and Hearts should be well served by their back four in the months to come.

Craig Gordon remains an imposing figure in goal and he never had a save to make.
At the end it was a simple case of constant Hearts pressure and they can now look forward to making the next round, which will take them to one two-legged match away from the Holy Grail of the group stages.

Hearts (4-4-2) Gordon; Neilson, Berra, Pressley, Fyssas; Cesnauskis, Aguiar, Tall, McCann (Mikoliunas); Bednar, Jankauskas (Pospisil 55min). Subs: Banks, Pospisil, Mikoliunas, Brellier, Mole, Neill, Driver
Siroki Brijeg (4-4-2) Basic; Anic, Silic, Pandza, Landeka; Wagner, Carvalho, Bubalo (Doci, 59), Gonielle; Karoglan, Ricardo. Subs: Vasilj, Doci, Papic, Lukacevic, Kovacic, Studenovic, Dzidic
Referee Espen Berntsen