The Scottish Premiership strugglers were given a boost at the weekend with a first win in six, but the early stages at Parken Stadium indicated a return to the status quo, as Hearts struggled to get out of their own half, surviving chances that fell to Amin Chiakha, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Gabriel Pereira, before a vital touch from James Penrice diverted another Elyounoussi effort onto the crossbar just before the half-hour mark.
Neil Critchley’s men failed to score in their previous two outings in the competition, and they were on course to make that three with zero attempts in the first half, as they soaked up more pressure from the Lions, for whom Robert had an effort well blocked by Malachi Boateng just before the break.
After holding out for 45 minutes before HT, Hearts’ resistance lasted only three minutes in the second half. Kevin Diks was allowed to weave his way inside the visitors’ box and slot the ball through to Elyounoussi, he forced a decent save by Craig Gordon, but the rebound fell kindly to Chiakha, who tapped in his third of the league phase. One could easily have become three in the next few minutes, but Gordon was Hearts’ hero, making excellent stops from Chiakha and Thomas Delaney.
However, Chiakha would be the veteran goalkeeper’s undoing with 15 minutes remaining, when he brought the forward down and the referee Andrea Colombo pointed to the penalty spot after a VAR review.
Diks stepped up and sent Gordon the wrong way, to draw himself level with Chiakha on three goals in the competition. A deflected Cameron Devlin shot was the only effort of the whole game for the Jam Tarts, who could drop out of the top 24 if other results go against them tonight.
They face Petrocub at home next week, while FCK go four points clear of 25th with their second win in succession, and their fourth ever against Scottish opposition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Amin Chiakha (FC Copenhagen)