Gloomy outlook for Hearts as Sparta seize control

Hearts 0
Sparta Prague 2 Kolar (31), Matusovic (71)

THERE WAS no hint of ill fortune, nor any sign of sinister conspiracies by officials. Hearts lost this UEFA Cup first-round, first-leg tie for the same reason they lost to AEK Athens in their Champions League qualifier here: they were simply beaten by a superior team. Vladimir Romanov may believe that dark forces are preventing his club from fulfilling their destiny, but right now there is nothing complicated or conspiratorial about it. They are simply not good enough at this level, and Sparta Prague might easily have added to the goals scored in either half by Daniel Kolar and Miroslav Matusovic.

This same squad may come good when all its members are available for selection, or when Paul Hartley regains 100 per cent fitness and sparks a revival. But that will surely be too late to prevent their going out of a European competition for the second successive month.

Although his options were limited by injury, illness and suspension, Valdas Ivanauskas still had some latitude to select a team he believed would be best for the occasion. He opted for Lee Wallace instead of the off-form Takis Fyssas, and played Jamie Mole in a wide role instead of Deividas Cesnauskis, though that choice was possibly influenced by the conditions. The Lithuanian winger is just recovering from a virus, and if he was less than fully fit he would tire quickly on a strength-sappingly sodden pitch.

After a day of unrelenting rain in Edinburgh, the conditions were clearly an issue for all those who were starting the match as well, and it was notable in the warm-up that the Hearts players were practising short passes on the ground in order to see how much they were held up by the surface water.

By the time the match kicked off, though, the main problem was poor visibility caused by a display of pyrotechnics: in the dank and close conditions, the smoke took some time to dispel, and it was no surprise when the referee, Paolo Bertini of Italy, delayed the start for a minute or so.

Once play did get under way, it soon became apparent that the quantity of surface water was hampering most attempts to pass accurately on the deck. Nonetheless, Sparta persisted in trying a slick passing game, trusting that any unfortunate hold-ups caused by the conditions would be offset by lucky breaks. The Czechs were by far the more enterprising and impressive side in the opening quarter of an hour, and they had the first attempt on goal with a speculative shot from Ludovic Sylvestre. Hearts, by contrast, were struggling to find any coherence as a team. The aerial passes they favoured might have seemed logical, but they too often brought about 50-50 challenges for possession which their physically powerful opponents were more than happy to contest.

It was midway through the first half before Sparta gave any real sign of being discomfited. First Mirsad Beslija lost his marker to head in on goal from a Jamie Mole cross, and although the effort was easily saved at least it showed that Hearts could contrive openings for themselves. Then, after fouling Bruno Aguiar in midfield, Jan Simak kicked the ball away in frustration and became the first name in the referee's book.

All the same, from a home point of view the match was disturbingly reminiscent of the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens. The Czechs were not quite as technically accomplished as the Greeks, and Hearts were offering more resistance than they did then, but the superiority of one team to the other was marked.

After a more accurate shot than his first by Sylvestre had produced a fine save from Gordon, and Bruno Aguiar was booked for a rash challenge on Tomas Sivok, that superiority became clearer yet when Daniel Kolar scored the opening goal of the evening. Trapping a pass from Jan Simak, Kolar made room for himself with a neat turn then shot high into the net from 20 yards.

It could have become worse for Hearts in what remained of the first half, as Sparta, growing swiftly in confidence, threatened to run riot. Jiri Homola sent a diving header over Gordon's bar from a corner to the back post, and the attempt would not have needed much more control on it to be on target.

Hearts at least ended the half on the offensive, but it was obvious they had a lot of thinking to do if they were going to stand a chance of getting back into the match.

Or at least so it seemed when Mr Bertini blew his whistle to signal the interval. Right from the restart, though, Hearts began playing to a heightened tempo, and it was that rather than any subtle tactical alteration which rattled Sparta. Five minutes into the second period, a long throw by Robbie Neilson on the right almost brought about the equaliser. None of Neilson's team-mates got close to the ball, but Sivok did, and his back-header evaded Jaromir Blazek and span just wide of the goal.

The fact that the rain had stopped and the pitch dried out somewhat also seemed to help Hearts relax into something more like their usual game. Mole, for one, was more involved than he had been in the first half, and after 55 minutes he shot well only to see Blazek succeed in parrying the ball to safety.

Ivanauskas then made a double substitution, bringing Ibrahim Tall on for Pinilla and Cesnauskis for Pinilla. Mole took up a more central, advanced position in place of Pinilla, and Tall adopted a holding midfield role, but the changes did nothing for Hearts.

Indeed, within minutes of those alterations being made, it took a superb triple save from Gordon to prevent Sparta from scoring their second. Kolar, Sylvestre and Dosek had shots on goal one after the other, and on each occasion Gordon got down to block.

Minutes after the goalkeeper had done that, though, the visitors did score again, through their substitute, Miroslav Matusovic. Collecting a loose ball after Kisel had been dispossessed, Matusovic advanced almost unopposed, and fired home from 25 yards.

Cesnauskis had a late chance to narrow the deficit, but he blasted a hurried shot over the bar. It summed up the way Hearts had misfired for most of the 90 minutes.

Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Berra, Wallace, Beslija (Tall 63), Aguiar, Hartley, Mole, Pinilla (Cesnauskis 63), Bednar. Subs: Banks, Fyssas, Makela, Karipidis, Park.

Sparta Prague: Blazek, Pospech, Kadlec, Repka, Homola, Sivok, Kolar (Hasek 76), Kisel, Sylvestre (Lustrinelli 85), Simak (Matusovic 63), Dosek. Subs: Grigar, Zabavnik, Drobny,Jun.

Taken from the Scotsman