Nicklas Rojkjaer’s strike in the dying minutes levelled proceedings at 1-1 and stunned an almost packed Tynecastle, leaving Hearts’ head coach, Wouter Vrancken, and his squad to rue missed chances during the opening game of their UEFA Conference League campaign.
The 28-year-old came on as a second-half substitute and his shot from inside the Hearts’ penalty box was deflected past Hearts’ goalkeeper, Beau Reus, before hitting the back of the net with 86 minutes on the clock. Hearts’ heads went down.
Before that, the Men in Maroon had survived several scares and only last ditch defending, one block from Harry Milne comes to mind, kept the eager visitors out.
Indeed the danger signs were there within seconds of the start when neat interplay saw the side, who are fourth in the Danish Superliga, sneak in at the back. A real warning.
The visitors even hit a post in the first-half through tricky 19-year-old Ghanaian midfielder, Prince Amoako, who caused the home back division no end of problems with his slick skills and great movement.
He dovetailed well with Alexander Lind and Ibrahim Adel, also proved a nuisance to the Jambos who failed to reproduce the form which blew St Mirren away at Tynecastle on Saturday.
In truth, the Men in Maroon should have been out of sight before Rojkjaer levelled and this was, in all honesty, two points dropped, not a point won.
Statistics published by BBC Sport Scotland show the home side had 20 shots against 11 in return, but Nordsjaelland enjoyed over 56 per cent of the possession in a game which went from end to end.
Vrancken will now have to lift his men for their trip to Parkhead to face Celtic on Sunday (kick-off 15.00) – incidentally The Bhoys were beaten 4-1 by Benfica in Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday – as Hearts will realise they let slip a great chance to earn three points here and open their Euro Conference League campaign on a high after slipping out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage and the Europa League.
The Belgian-born coach indicated post-match his men were disappointed at the draw, particularly the loss of a late goal. He felt it should have been 2-0 or 3-0 at the break, possibly, but it wasn’t and all Hearts had to show for their efforts was a goal by Oisin McEntee after 33 minutes. Not a pretty goal, but they all count.
The versatile 25-year-old Irishman latched onto a knockdown from Jamie McCart following a corner on the right to prod the ball home from around six-yards and Tynecastle erupted. It was McEntee’s second goal of the season so far and the fans felt they were onto something here.
That hope disappeared with a poor second-half performance.
Basically, Hearts struggled to find any real rhythm in the second period, and the home fans in the 17,368 crowd were strangely quiet in spells.
The Danish side’s goalkeeper certainly made several quality stops in the game, including one from McPake when he was one-on-one with the stopper, but the new Scotland international failed to make the opportunity count.
Hansen also denied McEntee, who was a tower of strength in midfield and defence and my Man of the Match, and the Irishman also blasted over from a good, central position,
but his opposite number, Reus, was not unemployed.
The Dutchman was called upon to make saves to deny the fast-moving opposition who just kept on coming.
Indeed, they controlled the final minutes of the game and in the three minutes of injury time signalled by match officials. Home fans looked deflated as they headed off into the night, and the Danish side’s coach, Jens Olsen, indicated to the media that he was disappointed that his men did not get more from the game.
Both sides now move on and Hearts make the long journey to Turkey for the next European instalment, this time against ex-Liverpool star, Mo Salah, and Trabzonspor next Thursday (17.45) before facing Motherwell (away) and Rangers (home), Dundee United (away) then the Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Hibs before jetting to Switzerland to square-up to Thun in the Conference League.
The going gets tough but Hearts must get going and find the net consistently.
READY TO GO: Tynecastle just before kick-off against Nordsjaelland. Picture Nigel Duncan
