Wouter Vrancken hailed Hearts for showing guts against Benfica to tee themselves up perfectly for a third time lucky shot at making a Euro league phase.
The Jambos clawed back some respect after last week’s 6-1 battering in Lisbon with a second leg 1-1 draw that sees them tumble out of the Europa League and into the Conference League play-off against Rapid Vienna.
Sub Tomas Magnusson’s 77th minute rocket gave Hearts the lead but Dodi Lukebakio’s equaliser less than two minutes later levelled for the Portuguese. That settled a 7-2 aggregate victory for Benfica.
A Step Forward
But it was a massive step forward from the 6-0 aggregate thumping off Sturm Graz that saw the Jambos tumble out of the Champions League as well as last week’s humbling in Portugal. It could have been even better had Calvin Miller not had a 52nd minute goal disallowed by VAR for offside.
And Vrancken said: “Very happy. We showed some guts on the ball, which we didn't in Benfica, especially the first half.
“And like we said, you have to take your moments to keep the ball and to give yourself some air and to do something good with the ball, because otherwise the opposition comes back fast.
“So we did it today and we showed a good performance also.
“And out of possession, the togetherness was really, really big. The effort towards each other to make a result was good. So, yeah, really happy.
“I think they deserved (to win) with the performance they gave.
Denied Goal and Dangerous Moments
“It was also a great play when the goal was denied. It was a nice goal. The official told me in Dutch that it was a few centimetres.
“So, OK. But a nice goal from Tomas. And then it's very important always when you score or get a goal, that three, four, five minutes after this moment, these are the most dangerous moments.
“We have to learn from these moments. But again, we have to see the overall performance today was really good.”
Hearts now welcome Rapid to Tynecastle next Thursday before heading to Austria six days later looking to keep their Euro journey alive in the Conference League. Laurent Mendy and Harry Milne could return from injury in time for that double header.
And Vrancken added: “It has to give confidence, but you know the Rapid Vienna game is, again, a totally different game, totally different side against you, opponent with a totally different style of play.
“But the most important thing is what happened today and you have to take the confidence of the performance. Also, the way you did it, it's not like we were lucky today. It was only luck and it's only a reaction.
“It was trying to create something, trying to bring positive football, constructive football and do something ourselves. And it was working well.”
Magnusson’s Impact
Magnusson climbed off the bench to hammer home a wonder goal and set Tynecastle alight. It was the Icelander's first of the season. And Vrancken added: “It's good to count on him. When you see the midfield and every position actually. You cannot do it with 11 players, especially when the games follow up so fast.
“So, you have to have confidence in the guys on the bench.
“And when they show a performance like this, for him, for sure, it gives confidence scoring such a goal. So, let's hope that he can take the confidence with him to the next games also.”
Benfica boss Marco Silva made seven changes to his starting line-up from the first leg. But his side were still dripping in international class. And the former Fulham and Everton boss said: “It was a good first half from ourselves, we controlled the game very well and had chances to be leading at half time.
“We didn’t score, we should have been more aggressive and we created enough to score.
“The second half was different, not so commanding or aggressive without the ball and the game was more balanced.
“But we did our job and we’re in the next round. We respect all the opposition sides we play against, my focus is on my team and what they can do.
“The intensity was different from the first leg but some players needed to get minutes.”
