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Conteh's header gives Heidenheim lead & Schoppner bullets in late second Hearts have two wins and one defeat in Conference League Heidenheim have maximum points after three games Colin Moffat Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Heidenheim string a few passes together and it ends with Mathias Honsak swinging in a low cross from the left. Craig Gordon lets it run behind, with no opponent near. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Here we go for the second half. Mathias Honsak is on for the visitors, replacing Mikkel Kaufmann on the left of midfield. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Allan Preston Former Hearts defender on BBC Sportsound It has been a terrific performance. You can see what Hearts' identity is. The only thing is they have not scored. The crowd will stay with them. Hearts have dominated as far as chances are concerned. Heidenheim are dangerous but they are giving up chances. They are there for the taking. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim This Heidenheim fan has been trying to rally the troops, but the visiting fans have not had much to shout about in Edinburgh. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Derek Mc Innes Kilmarnock manager on TNT Sports The support and the head coach will be extremely encouraged by the performance. Hearts have been terrific, they've been everything Heidenheim haven't. They're in a totally different gear. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim John Robertson Former Hearts striker on BBC Sportsound It has been really, really enjoyable. Very intriguing. Hearts are full of confidence and have been brave. They have to be brave. They are knocking it about and players are running well off the ball. And they have had the better chances. Right now, you could not call a winner. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Heidenheim have not done an awful lot with their 60% possession. Hearts have been much more enterprising in attack. HT: Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Only one scare for Craig Gordon and he was bailed out by Malachi Boateng's clearance. The veteran goalkeeper remains on course for his 100th Hearts clean sheet. Hearts have been doing most of the attacking but it's goalless at the break. Lawrence Shankland has had a couple of shots saved and Frankie Kent should have done better with a close-range header. Lawrence Shankland has been lively up front for Hearts Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Corner to Hearts. Heidenheim clear without much fuss. A few players out there look in need of a rest. It's been frantic. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Into three minutes of stoppage time. This half has flown by at a rapid rate of knots. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Craig Gordon comes a long way to make an unconvincing punch. Lennard Maloney powers a looping header on target from 18 yards but Malachi Boateng gets back to make an overhead clearance near the goal-line. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Frankie Kent gallops forward out of defence and is brought tumbling down by a late, sliding challenge from Lennard Maloney. First booking of the game goes to the American midfielder. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Allan Preston Former Hearts defender on BBC Sportsound Hearts have been excellent. They are on the front foot and pressing Heidenheim. They have been the better side and should be goals ahead. Terrific performance so far. They just need to keep it going. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Yan Dhanda with a shot, straight at the goalie. Now Alan Forrest has a pop and his effort whizzes too high. Hearts are really taking this game to the Germans. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Heidenheim are forced to make a change at right-back as Marnon Busch goes off with some kind of leg injury. Regular first-choice Omar Traore is on in his place. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Blair Spittal takes advantage of defensive uncertainty to make his forward. Just as the Hearts midfielder pulls the trigger, a player in white gets across to make a vital block. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim On his 300th appearance for Hearts, Craig Gordon hasn't been as busy as he perhaps expected to be against the Bundesliga side. In comparison, it's 17 touches in the opening 30 minutes for Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Muller. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Allan Preston Former Hearts defender on BBC Sportsound Wonderful play by Forrest. Penrice is unlucky on his weaker right-foot, he just can't get it onto his left. It's good to see Penrice getting forward on that side. Hearts 0-0 Heidenheim Heidenheim fail to deal with an Alan Forrest cross from the right and the ball drops to James Penrice at the edge of the box. He's smiling but the shot was horrible, spinning way wide of the target. Two second-half headers condemned Hearts to defeat Bundesliga side Heidenheim edged out Hearts at a raucous Tynecastle to maintain their 100% record in the Conference League and end that of their hosts. The Edinburgh side sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership, but dictated play against their German visitors in the first half without finding the way to goal. After suffering nearly an hour of pressure, Heidenheim found the goal that overcame Neil Critchley's side when Sirlord Conteh cushioned a header beyond Craig Gordon after a blistering attack. The hunt for the equaliser was timid, and in a rinse and repeat move for the visitors, Jan Schoppner glanced in to silence the home fans. While that ensured defeat, home head coach Critchley told BBC Scotland: "I wasn't disappointed with how we played; I'm just disappointed with the result. "When you're on top you have to make sure you take those chances and be clinical and unfortunately we've not done that. " All the latest Hearts news & analysis Despite Hearts’ dominance before the break, Frank Schmidt’s side had threatened earlier when Craig Gordon’s weak punch left a gaping goal for Lennard Maloney to head into. However, Malachi Boateng raced back to hook the goal-bound effort off the line and save Gordon’s blushes on his 300th appearance for the club. It was a near perfect first-half performance from Hearts, full of bravery, bright sparks and brilliance. All that was missing was a goal. Lawrence Shankland – whose tally for the season remains at one – squandered a few near things, while Blair Spittal and James Penrice skewed shots from decent areas. That was the story of the night for Hearts, who drop points in this competition for the first time this season. Heidenheim’s story is something of a fairytale, and their impressive victory in the Scottish capital is just the latest chapter in their chronicles. European exploits have been a welcome distraction for Hearts this season, given their dismal start domestically has them languishing at the foot of the Premiership. They continued that trend in a relentless first-half performance where they pulled their German visitors across the pitch. They were particularly good down the left, where Penrice and Yan Dhanda stretched Schmidt’s side and tore down to the byeline. Critchley’s side held a high line and delivered waves of attack but lacked a clinical edge time and time again. That's been the story of Shankland's season. As each game goes by, he looks more and more of a player playing with an unmanageable weight on his shoulders. If he's not scoring, Hearts aren't scoring. And Shankland is a shell of the star striker we've become accustomed to. Everything he touched turned to goals last season, this season, everything is ending up anywhere bar the back of the net. With no disrespect, few in Gorgie knew much of Heidenheim when Hearts were drawn with the Germans. As matchday creeped closer, the miracle of their rise from the second tier to their special season last term made its way to the forefront of conversations between those with a maroon mindset. This is a side who are used to defying odds, not having the expectations of tens of thousands on their shoulders and going under the radar. In the first half, they appeared spooked by the show Hearts and their fans put on. Fairly understandable. But, the Germans bided their time, got in unscathed at the interval and started afresh in the second half. There was a composure and clinical edge about their play which their hosts could only wish for. Both goals were ruthless and rapid, much like their rise. Few in Scotland knew of them before this, but many may be looking out for them now as Schmidt's side sit pretty for the play-offs. Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "It was arguably as good as the Omonoia game, we just didn't take our chances when we were on top and when that happens, you always run the risk of being punished and we were by two minutes of real quality. "The game is not always going to follow the same pattern for 90 minutes when you're playing against good teams. "It would be foolish and naive of us to think at half-time we would just come out and the same things were going to happen. " Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland told TNT Sports: "A good opposition. A good challenge for us. Overall, the performance was good. I created enough chances and I should've put them away. That's disappointing. "The first half was gung-ho at times. They were good in possession and kept us running. We came back into it in the second half and we finished strong. " Last Updated 7th November 2024 at 22: 00 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. 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