Burst

Well I for one had no idea what to expect, just couldn't make a call on how i thought the game would go. Mostly down to the fact that i had not the slightest clue about AEK Athens - i guess they have been round the block a time or two in Europe, certainly more than Hearts over the last decade or so. So i could be forgiven for thinking that Hearts would not be able to live with Athens. Then again aren't we supposed to be a bit more than just Hearts these days, aren't we supposed to be some kind of Uber Hearts, a stronger, faster, classier version of the normal us.
I still have no clue!

So, i knew this was a huge game and i knew i was nervous but i couldn't attach anything to it - i had nothing to worry about, just thought we would get on with it and eventually prevail somehow or other?

Miraculously the tickets for the Athens game arrived on Tuesday ( bought on line on Sunday night), can somebody please tell me why one of my f'n season tickets has not arrived yet. I bought 3 at the same time back at the start of June - received 2 concessions one in my name. This i got sorted out down at the ticket office last Wednesday. I have been down 4 times and still haven't got the other one and it looks like i will be queing again on Friday for a ticket for the Falkirk game on saturday. The point is, there is not another business anywhere that would consider this level of abject crapness to be anything other than totally unacceptable! For crying out loud Hearts get this sorted out, if you cast your mind back - it was exactly the same last year.

So to the game - i had bought the cheapest of the cheap £12 & £6 tickets for the Siroki game and have to say that down on the touchline at the corner flag at Murrayfield is no place to watch a football game. So i forked out for the £25 & £15 tickets this time round so the seats were much better. This gave a perfect view of just how slaughtered we were in the first 10 minutes. This was not looking good - AEK started the game like this :-
They were bigger, stronger, faster, better organised, technically superior, with greater poise and skill and vision than us and better in just about every other aspect of what makes one team better than another. Apart from maybe we were better at spanking the ball up the middle to no effect whatsoever.
My thoughts are that this affected Hearts pretty badly for the rest of the first half. We were terrible with everyone as bad as each other. Fingers could be pointed at Neil McCann and for sure he was bloody awful but i think there should be a collective blame here - we lost belief in ourselves. Just about every midfield pass we attempted for about a 30 minute period in the first half was short by a yard or two and everytime it let Athens in. We were completely overrun in midfield ( Ivanauskas should stand up and take the blame for a mental midfield line up ). My frustration levels were climbing by the minute and took a leap everytime the wee number 99 for Athens got on the ball. The worst thing of all tho was that everytime they were on the attack they had a man over - how the hell does that work. Twice in the first half i caught Berra grabbing Aguair, trying to explain to him just how much trouble he was in with allways having 2 to deal with - it was obvious that Aguair had no idea how to help him out - the best he could do was shrug his shoulders like "Your in trouble, try being in the centre circle"
But
For all that, they never really got behind us, and they never really tried to. Athens seemed content to rap shot after shot at Gordons goal from 25 yards out, weird really for all their superiority.
That superiority was gradually ground down by a by poor but dogged Hearts team. I mentioned in the report on the Siroki game that it was amazing hoe easily Hearts were brought down to their level - i wonder if the Athens punters are saying the same thing about their game against us. I found myself thinking, if only we can hang on til half time without losing a goal.
Half time
Hearts 0 - AEK Athens 0

Second half and Hearts were better in that we somehow seemed able to play the game in the Athens half - not that we were doing much but at least we looked like we could compete. Thought the game was going nowhere when Jankauskas came on. This pleased me, my thinking being that at least when he gets the ball he can generally hold of a challenge or two before collapsing ( the game up to this point was littered by Hearts players receiving the ball then collapsing at the first sniff of a challenge ) Jankauskas was at least better than most in this respect but he was still being muscled of the ball far too easily. Still a few minutes later and he is free on the edge of the box with Bednar inside - a neat square ball and we are in behind them!! Bednar does well, there are two on him he gets his shot that looked a goal all the way until it comes off the post, bounces out to Miko tho who slots home.

Hearts 1 - AEK Athens 0

I can't believe it but we have managed to turn this game around and now we are looking much better and i am thinking, hey get another one and i will start to like this.
Bruno Aguair gets sent of for being a fanny ( kicking the ball away in a hissy fit ) and we are right back in our shell. I guess there had to be changes with the only midfielder we had now sent off and there was a flurry of activity on the bench - so i think we done pretty well not to fall apart right there and then.

The last 15 minutes was the typical down to ten men back to the wall, protect the slender lead kind of thing and we almost made it.
With a couple of minutes to go, they changed things by flinging in a cross from the left which was met unchallenged and a beautiful looping header over Gordon into the back of the net from 12 yards out.

Hearts 1 - AEK Athens 1

We all know what an away goal in europe is worth and i am gutted.

4 minutes of added time is not what i wanted to hear but thats what it was, Athens continued to attack with everything they had and with just a minute or so to go they have an opening 25 yards out and wind up for what must be their 30th shot at goal from distance..........
I think it is written in your contract if you are a Scottish team playing in Europe -
at some point during your european campaign you will suffer a last minute deflected goal that shall kill your dreams
we lived up to our contractual obligations and Berra stuck his foot out to stop the shot, which spun off his foot out of the path of Gordon and into the gaping net
Disaster

If i was to sum this up, we let ourselves down last night. We looked to be outclassed but i don't think the gulf is as much as it looked. We may well go to Athens and play a lot better but the gods will need to be very much on board if we are to turn this one around.