Dec 20,2024
Hearts supporters vented their fury at players, management and board members after a 2-2 home draw with Moldovan minnows Petrocub cost them the chance to progress to the Conference League knockout phase play-off round.
On the occasion of their 100th European fixture, the Edinburgh club had high hopes of making it past Christmas in continental competition for the first time in 36 years.
A win over a Petrocub side who had taken just one point from their previous five matches in the tournament would have been enough to keep Neil Critchley's side in the top 24 and take them into Friday’s play-off draw.
But after fighting back from 1-0 down at half-time to lead 2-1 through goals from teenager James Wilson and substitute Blair Spittal, an 83rd-minute penalty equaliser from Victor Mudrac meant the Jambos ended up failing to make it through the group stage despite winning their first two matches.
It represented another disastrous night in a season where they find themselves bottom of the William Hill Premiership.
Larne signed off their Conference League campaign with an historic 1-0 win against Gent at Windsor Park.
Larne are the first club from Northern Ireland to make it to the group stage of a European competition, and prior to Thursday's fixture, had struggled to have an impact, lying bottom of the table without a point.
But Tomas Cosgrove’s second-half strike ensured they became the first Irish League side to win on the European big stage.
Larne spent the majority of the game on the backfoot against their superior Belgian opponents.
However, captain Cosgrove converted Sean Graham’s low cross with 16 minutes remaining to send the home crowd wild.
Larne then saw out eight minutes of stoppage time as they secured a famous win which took them off the bottom of the table to 34th in the 36-team league.
The New Saints' Conference League campaign also came to a close after they twice squandered the lead in a 3-2 defeat at Celje.
The Welsh Premier champions twice led in the first half after Danny Davies and Rory Holden scored, but Edmilson levelled within a minute on both occasions and David Zec won it for the Slovenian side in the second half.
Chelsea signed off with a perfect record and clinched top spot in the league phase of the Conference League after Marc Guiu scored a first-half hat-trick to seal a 5-1 demolition of League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
Rovers will face Norway's Molde (who finished 23rd) or TSC Backa Topola (24th) of Serbia in the knockout phase play-offs in February.
Portuguese outfit Vitoria SC finished second after their meeting with fourth-placed Serie A side Fiorentina ended in a 1-1 draw.
Gustavo Silva fired home for Vitoria in the 33rd minute, but Rolando Mandragora’s 87th-minute equaliser clinched third spot for the Italian club.
One place below is the Austrian Bundesliga’s SK Rapid Wien, who secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Copenhagen.
Augsburg loanee Dion Drena Beljo volleyed in the opener on the stroke of half time before Nikolaus Wurmbrand bagged a brace inside 13-second half minutes.
Goals from Tokmac Nguen, Deniz Hummet and Patric Aslund saw the Allsvenskan’s Djurgarden through in fifth with a 3-1 home victory over Legia Warsaw, who scraped into the last 16 in seventh despite the loss.
The Polish side’s lone goal came from Pawl Wszolek early in the second half.
Lugano ended between them in sixth following a 2-2 draw with Pafos, who will enter the knockout phase as a seeded team after finishing 12th.
The Swiss Super League leaders took a fourth-minute lead through Amir Saipi’s own goal, cancelled out by Hadj Mahmoud three minutes later.
Mattia Bottani fired Lugano in front in the 33rd minute before David Goldar drew the sides back level in second-half stoppage time.
Cercle Brugge secured the final direct berth after Paris Brunner equalised in the 82nd minute of their 1-1 draw with İstanbul Basaksehir, only eight minutes after Krzysztof Piatek broke the deadlock for the Turkish club.
