Hearts' hopes of progressing to the knock-out stage of the Europa Conference League are over after Fiorentina beat Istanbul Basaksehir.
Robbie Neilson 's men defeated Latvian outfit RFS in their final home Group A clash tonight but it proved meaningless in the context of qualification. La Viola, who beat Hearts home and away by an aggregate score of 8-1, had to drop points to the group leaders in order for the Tynecastle team to retain their slim chance of nabbing second spot and booking a place in the play-off round against one of the Europa League drop-outs.
But that's no longer possible after the Serie A side won in the Stadio Artemio Franchi. It started well from Hearts' point of view when Basaksehir captain Danijel Aleksic put the visitors ahead after less than 15 minutes. But the hosts hit back soon after, Luka Jovic restoring parity. The former Real Madrid man then completed the turnaround and bagged a brace for himself with a second for his side just after the hour mark.
It would have still been a tall order for the capital. A win against Rigas was required in Gorgie tonight. They would then have to go to Istanbul next and and win, and hope that RFS were able to beat Fiorentina to a draw in order to leapfrog Vincenzo Italiano's men. Their results against them in the home and away double header mean that head-to-head record would send Fiorentina through if they finished level on points. However, even of goal difference did come into play, Hearts' is far from healthy after four matches.
There is hope of landing more prise money from another three points as well though. The 2-0 win over in Latvia back in September was the highlight of the campaign (on the pitch at least) so far. Lawrence Shankland' s penalty and Alan Forrest's late strike gave the travelling fans a win to celebrate in the Baltic nation, and Hearts triumphed over RFS again this evening, this time on home soil.
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