Brave Hearts lose out in Germany

Colin Cameron in action for Hearts in Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart 1-0 Hearts

Bulgarian international Krassimir Balakov broke Hearts' first half resilience with a sweetly-hit 35th minute free-kick to give Stuttgart a narrow 1-0 lead after the first leg of this Uefa Cup tie.

Despite dominating lengthy stretches of play, the German side were restricted to a mere handful of goalscoring chances and Hearts will fancy their chances in the return leg at Tynecastle.

A make-shift Hearts did not commit many men to attack and were content to sit back and absorb the Stuttgart attacks.

As the evening wore on, the home side appeared to run out of ideas and Jim Jefferies men coped comfortably with their night's work.

Hearts were put under pressure immediately by Stuttgart and Jochen Seitz offered the first threat when he headed just wide of Antti Niemi's goal with just three minutes on the clock.

Building patiently

The German side, fresh from their 2-1 triumph over Bayern Munich at the weekend, were building patiently from the back with Croatian international Zvonimir Soldo marshalling his troops efficiently.

Gordan Petric was forced into putting pressure on his own goalkeeper after five minutes but Niemi cleared the back pass with former Liverpool forward Sean Dundee chasing in.

Fitzroy Simpson was the first Tynecastle player to provide a threat but Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand comfortably held the former Portsmouth player's strike.

The Germans continued to press and Krisztian Lisztes was unfortunate to have Niemi in the right place to claim his header.

Sliced clearance

Gary Naysmith was almost left embarrassed when his sliced clearance drifted goalwards. Niemi watched the ball all the way and allowed it to go wide for a corner.

After 14 minutes, Hearts broke clear with Thomas Flogel down the right. His cross was scrambled away by the Stuttgart defence before Darren Jackson drove from the edge of the area.

The forward's weak shot was easily held by Hildebrand.

Hearts were growing in confidence and Simpson cleverly rounded his marker, Silvio Meissner, on the corner of the box before attempting to bend the ball around Hildebrand. However, the German keeper reached out his left hand to tip the ball around the post.

Stuttgart were claiming a penalty after 24 minutes when Ahmed Salah Hosny went to ground after a Cameron challenge, but Italian referee Cosimo Bolognino waved away the half-hearted appeals.

Lonely furrow

Thomas Flogel was ploughing a lonely furrow up front as an interim striker and with both Juanjo and Simpson increasingly required for defensive duties, supply was in limited supply for the Austrian international.

Simpson was responsible for blocking a Stuttgart free-kick after Scott Severin had brought down Krassimir Balakov 25 yards from goal.

Severin was clearly struggling after manager Jim Jefferies had gambled on his fitness following an ankle knock suffered with the Scotland Under-21 side in Latvia.

The German dominance eventually paid off in the 35th minute after Petric had appeared to foul Meissner 20 yards from goal.

Stranded

Balakov lined up the free-kick and expertly floated the ball over the Hearts wall to leave Niemi stranded.

Dundee almost added another goal for the home side after 41 minutes but the burly striker's shot from the edge of the area flew just wide.

Thomas Flogel played as a striker for Hearts

Lee Makel replaced the hobbling Severin for the start of the second half.

Simpson tried his luck from 35 yards three minutes after the break but the ball flew high over German Under-21 international Hildebrand's goal.

Petric did well in the 51st minute to put Dundee off his stride after being played into the area by Hosny.

Head injury

Hearts were briefly down to 10 men as Petric received treatment for a head injury he suffered at the very start of the period but he returned to the fray with the cut heavily bandaged.

Grant Murray was almost punished by Seitz when he seized on the Hearts defender's woeful back pass but Niemi saw the danger and raced off his line to claim the ball.

Colin Cameron was not enjoying one of his better games for the Jambos but still stung Hildebrand's hands with a fierce drive after 57 minutes.

Stuttgart made another change in the 62nd minute with Portuguese youngster Roberto Pinto entering the game in place of Seitz.

The home crowd were not pleased with their side's failure to capitalise on their dominance and let their feelings be known as attack after attack broke down.

Hearts deserved credit for their defensive resilience which had frustrated the German team.

Darren Jackson could be rightly proud of his performance and was greeted with cheers from the travelling Hearts fans when he was replaced by Gary McSwegan.

Stuttgart increased the tempo in the final 10 minutes but could still not find a way through.

Cameron was hurt in the closing stages and was forced to leave the field. Young Robbie Nielson came on for the final few minutes.

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VfB Stuttgart: Hildebrand, Meissner, Thiam, Balakov, Carnell, Seitz, Soldo, Endress, Lisztes, Hosny, Dundee.

Subs: Trautner, S. Blank, Todt, Ganea, Schneider, Hleb, Pinto.

Hearts: Niemi, Pressley, Naysmith, Severin, Murray, Petric, Juanjo, Flogel, Jackson, Cameron, Simpson.

Subs: McKenzie, Neilson, O'Neil, McSwegan, Makel, Kirk, James.

Referee: Cosimo Bolognino (Italy)