Luka Jovic's early header set Fiorentina on their way
Hearts were thrashed by a rampant Fiorentina to leave their Europa Conference League progression hopes hanging in the balance.
Robbie Neilson's side were blown away in the first half as Luka Jovic, Cristiano Biraghi, Nicolas Gonzalez and Antonin Barak all fired past Craig Gordon in Florence.
Stephen Humphrys pulled one back for the visitors inside the first two minutes of the second half, but Gonzalez restored the four-goal cushion from the penalty spot.
It means Hearts now have to win their two remaining group games against RFS and runaway group leaders Istanbul Basaksehir, and hope that Fiorentina only take a maximum of one point from their remaining fixtures.
- Reaction & as it happened
Fiorentina have struggled domestically all season, winning only two games in Serie A. They came into this game off the back of a 4-0 defeat by Lazio on Monday, and Hearts, sensing a potential vulnerability, almost made the perfect start.
Sofyan Amrabat played an uncharacteristically loose pass into midfield, where Barrie McKay was lurking. The diminutive winger fed Humphrys, and the former Wigan striker - in from the start ahead of Lawrence Shankland - shot across Pierluigi Gollini, but saw his low strike come back off the post.
It seemed to shake Fiorentina into life, as they first forced a good save out of Gordon, and then took the lead.
A short corner caught Hearts cold, and a pin-point cross from home captain Biraghi picked out Jovic just outside the six-yard box. The former Real Madrid man was completely unmarked and made no mistake, heading down into the corner.
Rolando Mandragora struck a fierce shot that crashed away off the post with Gordon nothing more than a bystander, but the hosts did not have to wait long before they doubled their lead.
After a soft free-kick went Fiorentina's way on the edge of the Hearts area, Biraghi struck a beautifully judged shot up and over the wall into the top corner. The award was harsh, but Fiorentina were fully deserving of their two-goal lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Hearts on the half-hour mark. Some intricate passing on the edge of visitors' box opened up the Tynecastle side again, and after Jovic let Kouame's pass through his legs, Gonzalez was on hand to roll a shot back across Gordon and into the far corner.
As Fiorentina sliced through Hearts at will, the fourth goal seemed almost inevitable, and sure enough, the away goal was breached again on 38 minutes. Barak found Kouame inside the Hearts box, and the Ivorian had all the time in the world to pull the ball back to his team-mate, who made no mistake from 12 yards.
Hearts came out swinging after the break though, perhaps with Neilson's words ringing in their ears, and just as in the first half, Humphrys was put in on goal, this time rolling a low shot beyond Gollini.
Credit to Hearts, they put up more of a fight in the second half, but the game was already lost and Fiorentina had clearly taken their foot off the gas. When the hosts did click into gear, they broke into the Hearts box, Alex Cochrane kicked out at Riccardo Saponara and the referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Gonzalez stepped up and coolly sent Gordon the wrong way to notch his second goal of the evening and Fiorentina's fifth.
Shankland, introduced off the bench, saw a speculative effort drift onto the roof of the net after he spotted Gollini off his line, but Fiorentina comfortably saw out the last 10 minutes to secure a resounding home win.
Player of the match - Nicolas GonzalezThe Argentina international was a constant thorn in Hearts' side, and thoroughly deserved his two goalsLeaky Hearts defence wide open again - analysis
Hearts' injury woes at the back are well documented, but they are shipping goals at an alarming rate. That is now 14 goals against in their last four games in all competitions.
Fiorentina have quality players, but the ease with which they sliced through Hearts will be alarming. It was a simple ball into the box that broke the deadlock at Tynecastle last week, and it was the same again in Tuscany.
Neilson remains without the influential Craig Halkett and summer signing Kye Rowles, but the Hearts boss needs to find a way to shore things up at the back, especially with a run of tricky games leading up to the World Cup break.
What's next?
Hearts travel to Pittodrie on Sunday for a Scottish Premiership game with Aberdeen (15:00 BST).
- Line-upsMatch StatsLive Text
Line-upsFiorentina
Formation 4-3-3
95Gollini15Terzic4Milenkovic98dos Santos de Paulo3Biraghi72Barak34S Amrabat38Mandragora22González7Jovic99Kouamé
- 95Gollini15Terzic4Milenkovic98dos Santos de Paulo3BiraghiBooked at 69minsSubstituted forVenutiat 80'minutesBooked at 85mins72BarakSubstituted forBiancoat 80'minutes34S Amrabat38MandragoraSubstituted forDuncanat 45'minutes22González7JovicSubstituted forSaponaraat 45'minutes99KouaméSubstituted forMendonça Cabralat 87'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Terracciano2Cordeiro Dos Santos5Bonaventura8Saponara9Mendonça Cabral11Ikoné14Maleh16Ranieri23Venuti27Zurkowski32Duncan42Bianco
Hearts
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Gordon12Atkinson3Kingsley19Cochrane16Halliday5Haring14Devlin17Forrest7Grant18McKay29Humphrys
- 1Gordon12AtkinsonSubstituted forSibbickat 16'minutesBooked at 69mins3Kingsley19CochraneBooked at 78mins16Halliday5HaringBooked at 48mins14Devlin17ForrestSubstituted forKiomourtzoglouat 45'minutes7GrantSubstituted forSmithat 45'minutesBooked at 87mins18McKaySubstituted forHendersonat 75'minutes29HumphrysSubstituted forShanklandat 74'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Kiomourtzoglou9Shankland13Stewart21Sibbick22Henderson27Smith28Clark39Pollock45Tait
Referee:Ivan BebekMatch StatsHome TeamFiorentinaAway TeamHeartsPossessionHome69%Away31%ShotsHome16Away5Shots on TargetHome10Away2CornersHome5Away0FoulsHome16Away14Live Text Post update
Match ends, Fiorentina 5, Heart of Midlothian 1.
90'+2'Full Time
Second Half ends, Fiorentina 5, Heart of Midlothian 1.
90'+2'Post update
Attempt missed. Alessandro Bianco (Fiorentina) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
90'+1'Post update
Foul by Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina).
90'+1'Post update
Euan Henderson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
89'Post update
Foul by Arthur Cabral (Fiorentina).
89'Post update
Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
87'Booking
Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
87'Post update
Nicolás González (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
87'Post update
Foul by Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian).
87'Substitution
Substitution, Fiorentina. Arthur Cabral replaces Christian Kouamé.
85'Booking
Lorenzo Venuti (Fiorentina) is shown the yellow card.
85'Post update
Lorenzo Venuti (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
85'Post update
Foul by Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian).
84'Post update
Foul by Lorenzo Venuti (Fiorentina).
84'Post update
Andrew Halliday (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
84'Post update
Foul by Alessandro Bianco (Fiorentina).
84'Post update
Euan Henderson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
81'Post update
Attempt missed. Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is just a bit too high.
81'Post update
Foul by Igor Julio (Fiorentina).
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Source: bbc.com