Hearts and their star player Lawrence Shankland are having a difficult season together.
However, this season has been different. Shankland has only scored one goal so far. The team is struggling, and they are only above the last-place team, Hibernian, because of goal difference. Fans who traveled to Belgium to watch the game might have felt like they were seeing a repeat of past matches. Shankland did not score again, and the rest of the team seemed unable to create chances, even though they had 60% of the ball.
The first half of the game was mostly filled with the referee’s whistle, and it ended with a goal from Efekele. He is a midfielder on loan from Monaco, owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. Efekele managed to score with a weak shot that went inside the post, which summed up Shankland’s struggles this season.
Shankland had a great chance to score with a backheel shot, but it went just past the post. The goalkeeper, Maxime Delanghe, looked like he was beaten. Later, Shankland had another chance to help his team earn a point when the other team was called for a handball. Unfortunately, his shot went a foot over the crossbar.
He had yet another chance to score from a nice cross by James Penrice, but his header went wide. Soon after, Magnee scored for the home team, making things worse for Shankland. The early excitement from Hearts’ two wins in the Conference League and the brief boost from their new coach, Critchley, now feel like a distant memory.
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