Miserable Hearts are outnumbered and outplayed

AEK Athens (0) 3 Heart of Midlothian (0) 0
Agg: 5-1

Hearts' dolorous start to the season continued last night when they were reduced to nine men in this third round Champions League qualifier in the Greek capital - Julien Brellier and Neil McCann were sent off - and overrun in the later stages, when Julio Cesar scored twice and Nikos Lyberopoulos added another.
Cesar's first was from the spot after Takis Fyssas tripped Vasilis Lakis in the box and the Brazilian scored again with a simple run and shot after Lyberopoulos had headed AEK further ahead.

Valdas Ivanauskas sprang a major selection surprise when he chose 18-year-old Jamie Mole to spearhead his 4-5-1 formation, the youngster having only featured once previously, in a CIS Cup tie at Livingston 11 months ago - a game memorable for being the only defeat suffered by Hearts while George Burley was manager.

Mole's inclusion was evidence of the paucity of forwards available to Hearts, with Roman Bednar left behind, Michal Pospisil out because of injury and Edgaras Jankauskas, another fitness doubt, on the bench.

Mole was favoured over another Tynecastle teenager, Calum Elliot, and might have engraved his name upon legend after 14 minutes when he exchanged passes with Paul Hartley - in his first start of the season - and rolled the ball around Dionisis Chiotis, but it was cleared before it could cross the line. Hartley was also offered a fine chance to throw the tie back into the balance when he got on the end of a knock-on by McCann from Robbie Neilson's throw-in, but the Hearts midfield man could not get sufficient power on his header to beat Chiotis. AEK, of course, forced openings, Pantelis Kapetanos heading narrowly wide.

Brellier suffered a head knock and was found to be wearing an uncovered earring, thus incurring an automatic caution, an offence that proved costly when he subsequently elbowed Vladimir Ivic in the back and was yellow carded again. McCann's ordering-off was of a different order, a straight red card for a late tackle on Ivic after the break.

Match details

AEK Athens (4-4-2): Chiotis; Pautasso, Dellas, Cirillo, Georgeas; Lagos (Lakis 55), Emerson, Ivic, Julio Cesar; Lyberopoulos (Kampadais 83), Kapetanos.
Subs: Arrabatzis (g), Moras, Tziortziopoulos, Kiriakidis, Tozser.
Booked: Lyberopolous
Hearts: (4-5-1): Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Berra, Fyssas; Cesnauskis (Wallace 80), Mikoliunas, Hartley, Brellier, McCann; Mole (Pinilla 88). Subs: Banks (g), Elliot, Karipidis, Jankauskas, Beslija.
Booked: Fyssas, Mikoliunas, Brellier.
Sent off: Brellier, McCann.
Referee: I Baskakov (Russia).

Taken from telegraph.co.uk