Hearts' Europa Conference League hopes are hanging by a thread after they were thumped 3-1 by Swiss champions Thun at the Visana Stadium. The Edinburgh side, already hit by injuries, produced a performance that was miles off the level required, leaving them with just one point from their first three games.
Costly mistakes and a difficult night
A Jamie McCart own goal set the tone, with strikes from Brighton Labeau and Furkan Dursan putting Thun on course for their first points in the competition. Stuart Findlay's late counter was scant consolation for the visitors.
Thun, who won the Swiss top-flight title for the first time in their history last season, had lost their manager and several key players over the summer, similar to Hearts. They had started in the Champions League qualifiers and dropped to the Europa League and now the Conference League, yet they looked more at home in this competition.
Injury crisis deepens
Hearts travelled without an entire outfield team and returned with Stephen Kingsley added to that list. Craig Halkett, Harry Milne, Christian Borchgrevnik, Eduardo Ageu, Blair Spittal, Tom Renauld, Rogers Mato and Oisin McEntee were already absent. Tomas Magnusson is out with concussion, while Calvin Miller has suffered a meniscus injury which is likely to keep him out for at least two months.
Head coach Wouter Vrancken had to make do and mend, with Kingsley moving to right-back and McCart to left-back, while Findlay and Malachi Fagan-Walcott lined up in the middle. Youngsters Finlay Pollock, Matthew Gillies and Gus Stevenson were among a bare-looking bench.
McCart's costly mistake
Thun took the lead in the 22nd minute when Marco Burki's long ball was flicked on by Dursan, and McCart, trying to deal with it, put it into his own net. Labeau doubled the lead in the 34th minute, firing high past Beau Reus after Nils Reichmuth's cross fell kindly to him.
Kingsley pulled up with what looks like a hamstring issue in the second half, adding to Hearts' woes. Dursan netted Thun's third in the 57th minute, and although Findlay headed in a late free kick from Altena in the 82nd minute, it was too little, too late. Monaco are next up at Tynecastle, and the odds are stacked against Vrancken and his men unless he can get some bodies back.
