Hearts put on an impressive showing to defeat La Liga side Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at Tynecastle Park.
Celebrating 140 years in Gorgie, Amadou Ba-Sy was the goal hero with a brace of first-half headers on his debut, while the UEFA Conference League finalists pulled one back in the second half through Sergio Camello.
The visitors were denied the lead by a fantastic Alex Schwolow block after five minutes. Joshzua Vertround slipped Etienne Eto’o into the box but his shot was well blocked by the Hearts ‘keeper.
The Jambos then ramped up pressure of their own. Stephen Kingsley’s free kick found the unmarked Oisin McEntee at the far post but despite being yards out he could only lift his header over the bar.
Kinsgely was in the mix again, sending a corner to the back door for Josh McPake to lob back towards goal but Alexandre Zurawski popped up on the line to prod the ball clear.
Amadou Ba-Sy was proving a handful on his debut in maroon and he showed great strength to turn his man in the middle of the Ray Vallecano half before trying his luck from distance but he shot straight at Daniel Cardenas.
The big forward should’ve opened the scoring on 14 minutes after McEntee darted forward to cross into the middle of the box, finding the Frenchman unmarked, but he could only drag his effort wide from 10-yards.
Ba-Sy made no mistake four minutes later, however. And it was more impressive build up play from the Jambos, with Kingsley sending the ball inside to McPake, who whipped a cross into the box for Ba-Sy to glance a header into the opposite corner of the net and give Hearts the lead.
The woodwork denied Hearts a second on the half hour mark. McPake’s corner found MJ Kamson-Kamara but his header flew over a full stretch Cardenas and off the crossbar.
It was 2-0 on 34 minutes. Claudio Braga’s quick switch of play sent Christian Borchgrevink into the box and he hung a ball into the middle for Ba-Sy to power a header into the bottom corner.
The Jambos were free flowing by this point, with Tom Renaud dancing his way through to slip in Braga and although the ball got caught under his feet he was still able to pull off a shot, which Cardenas did well to palm away. Kamson-Kamara met the resultant corner but headed wide of the target.
It could’ve been three before the half was out when Borchgrevink clipped a ball through the middle for Renaud to run onto and into the box but his powerful drive was beaten away by Cardenas.
Moments later, McEntee crossed crossed for Braga, who looked to use the bounce to his advantage and headed goalward, only for Cardenas to smother the ball.
Seconds before the half was out, Schwolow pulled off a breathtaking save to deny Pedro Diaz’s 25-yard free kick. Destined for the top corner, the German flung himself to his left to claw the ball away with his fingertips.
Four changes were made at the break with the introduction of Sabri Guendouz, Rogers Mato, Tomas Magnusson and Yan Dhanda, replacing Ba-Sy, McPake, Renaud and McEntee.
Guendouz was a livewire, constantly evading challenges and probing the Vallecano defence. He skipped away from his man on 50 minutes to thread Mato through but the Ugandan failed to cleanly catch his shot and the keeper saved.
A slack moment allowed the visitors a chance six minutes later when the ball was given away and Sergio Camello attempted to lob Schwolow from 35-yards but the German backtracked quickly to stop it on his line.
Vallecano then made a mistake of their own, gifting the ball straight to Braga, who burst towards the box before firing just wide of the post.
Borchgrevink then cut back to the advancing Magnusson but he ballooned over the bar from distance.
The visitors pulled one back on the hour mark when Camello’s shot took a wicked deflection to loop up and over Schwolow and into the back of the net.
A lovely passing move took Hearts closer to a third, with substitute Alexandros Kyzridis playing a neat one-two with Magnusson to get into the box before curling his effort just over the bar.
Rayo Vallecano showed their quality late on as they went in search of an equaliser, but the Jambos were equal to their La Liga opponents in the closing stages and indeed superior throughout the night to record a superb win heading into next week’s Champions League qualifier away to Sturm Graz.
Heart of Midlothian: Schwolow (Fulton, 62’), Borchgrevink (Altena, 62’), Kingsley ©️ (Milne, 62’), McEntee (Magnusson, 46’), Braga (Kabore, 62’), Renaud (Dhanda, 46’ – Spittal, 78’), McPake (Guendouz, 46’), Findlay (McCart, 62’), Kamson-Kamara (Fagan-Walcott, 62’), Kerjota (Miller, 62’), Ba-Sy (Mato, 46’ – Kyziridis, 79’)
Subs: Clark.
Rayo Vallecano: Cardenas, Diaz, Palazon ©️, Zurawski, Eto’o, Balliu, Fernandez, De Las Sias, Roman, Becerra, Vertrouwd
Subs: Batalla, Molina, Ratiu, Chavarria, Lopez, Camello, Nteka, Alonso, De Frutos, Perez, Valentin, Lejeune, Lozano
