Sparta strike on the double to break Hearts
A Daniel Kolar goal after 34 minutes gave the Czech side a deserved interval lead and at times only Jambos keeper Craig Gordon held the visitors at bay.
However, in the 71st minute Gordon had no chance when Sparta substitute Miroslav Matusovic fired in number two from the edge of the penalty area to seal a comfortable win.
After crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers last month to AEK Athens, the warning signs must now be there for Jambos head coach Valdas Ivanauskas as the Tynecastle side arguably turned in their worst performance of the season so far.
The Murrayfield pitch, sodden from hours of rain during the day, made life difficult for both sets of players right from the first whistle.
The 27,255 crowd witnessed the home side struggling to cope with the puddles which was making passing impossible at times.
Hearts keeper Gordon had no chance in the 34th minute when the visitors took a well-deserved lead.
The Hearts defence could not clear their lines and from the edge of the penalty area, Kolar fired in an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
In the 70th minute Gordon made an incredible triple save, first blocking Dosek’s low drive before immediately saving Sylvestre’s volley from the rebound and the Scotland goalkeeper capped it off by pushing Matusovic’s close-range effort behind for a corner.
But the Scotland goalkeeper’s work was all in vain barely a minute later when the visitors doubled their lead.
Matusovic atoned for his earlier two misses when he picked the ball up 25 yards out and drilled a shot which gave Gordon no chance.
: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Berra, Wallace, Beslija (Cesnauskis 63), Aguiar, Hartley, Mole, Pinilla (Tall 63), Bednar.
: Blazek (Lustrinelli 86), Repka, Pospech, Homola, Kadlec, Kisel, Sivok, Ludovic, Kolar (Hasek 76), Simak (Matusovic 63), Dosek.
: Paolo Bertini (Italy).
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