Hearts’ Europa Conference League ended in defeat as Istanbul Bsaksehir produced one of the comfortable football scores of the midweek action. Youssouf Ndayishimiye headed in a corner in the opening four minutes of the last Group A match in Turkey, and despite the visitors’ best efforts to get back into the game, they were further behind when Serdar Gurler scored in the 33rd minute thanks to an error by goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Soon after entering the game, substitute Berkay Ozcan added a third goal, while Hearts defender Nathaniel Atkinson added a late consolation.
The host team, which had previously defeated Tynecastle 4-0, finished first in Group A, with Fiorentina moving on as the second-place team. Hearts, who were currently third in the group, had little hope of leaving the group, and several important players were still out injured before the game began. However, Gordon held his starting position, which allowed him to play 22 games for the club in European competition, tying the records of fellow goalkeeper Henry Smith and ex-skipper Steven Pressley. After just 90 seconds, Basaksehir swiftly put Gordon’s goal in jeopardy as Stefano Okaka snuck a shot past the post from 12 yards.
The Edinburgh team disregarded the advice, and shortly after, Ndayishimiye had enough of time and room to head past Gordon from a Deniz Turuc corner. Euan Henderson scored from 20 yards as the visitors put their hosts under intense pressure all over the field in a stunning response from Hearts. However, shortly after the halfway point, Gurler took his time before blasting into the net past defender Toby Sibbick, who had moved to the line after Gordon hurried from his goal to stop Okaka from getting on the end of a long ball and failed to connect properly.
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