Trabzonspor beat Hearts 2-0 as Salah penalty powers perfect European start
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Trabzonspor beat Hearts 2-0 at Papara Park on October 22, 2026. It was matchday 2 of the UEFA Conference League.
- Mohamed Salah scored a penalty and set up the second goal. It was another big night for him in Turkey.
- Trabzonspor now have two wins from two games in Europe. Hearts play away at FC Thun next.
Trabzonspor stayed perfect in Europe on Thursday night. They beat Hearts of Scotland 2-0 at Papara Park in Trabzon. It was their second straight win in the UEFA Conference League.
What happened
The game kicked off on October 22, 2026, at Papara Park in Trabzon. It was matchday 2 of the league phase in the UEFA Conference League.
Trabzonspor are from Turkey. Hearts are from Scotland.
Hearts started with real energy. Christian Borchgrevink shot wide from long range in the 6th minute. One minute later, Malachi Fagan-Walcott hit the left post with a header.
Andre Onana then saved a header from Claudio Braga in the 10th minute. That was the only Hearts shot on target all night, according to Turkiye Today.
VAR had already denied Trabzonspor a penalty in the 14th minute. Then in the 30th minute, they got one. Franculino Dju drew a foul inside the box from Hearts midfielder Tomas Magnusson.
Mohamed Salah stepped up two minutes later. He sent a left-footed shot into the middle of the goal. The score was 1-0.
Salah turned from scorer to maker. He set up Dju in the 58th minute. Dju hit a left-footed shot from the right side of the box.
It went into the top left corner. It was a clean finish.
Trabzonspor kept pushing for a third. Batista Mendy and Sidny Cabral both fired high from outside the box. Hearts keeper Beau Reus saved a Noah Saviolo shot in the 82nd minute.
Reus had also stopped efforts from Dju and Benjamin Bouchouari in the first half. That was according to Turkiye Today.
The end of the game was rough. Saviolo went off hurt in the 87th minute. Kuzey Akcay came on for him.
Then in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Cabral got a second yellow card. It was for a bad foul. He was sent off.
The referee blew the final whistle soon after.
The numbers told the story of the game. According to Betora, Trabzonspor had 61 percent of the ball. The hosts took 11 shots, with 5 on target.
Hearts took 10 shots, but only 1 hit the target. Corner kicks were 6 to 1 for Trabzonspor. The stats match what the eye saw.
One team was in control. The other was chasing.
Why it matters
This was Trabzonspor's second win in two European games. They had beaten KuPS 4-2 in Finland on matchday 1, according to UEFA.
Two wins from two is the best possible start. It puts them in a strong spot in the league-phase race.
The format is simple. Each team plays six games. The best teams move on to the knockout rounds.
Every point counts, but early wins take the pressure off. Trabzonspor can now play their next games with calm.
Mohamed Salah was the star of the night. He did not get lucky. He scored the penalty with a cool head.
Then he made the second goal with a smart pass. It was another big night for him in a Trabzonspor shirt. Turkiye Today noted that he had fired the club past Besiktas just days before.
For Hearts, the loss hurts. They started with fire but scored nothing. Their early chances came and went.
After the penalty, they faded. Borchgrevink, who had been bright, went off hurt before halftime. Stephen Kingsley came on for him.
Hearts made three more changes in the 75th minute. Nothing worked.
The result also explains the search spike. Searches for the Trabzonspor Hearts standings jumped this week in Canada, according to Google Trends. Fans wanted the score and the table.
Jablonec held Brighton to a 0-0 draw on the same night. It was in the same competition. That added to the traffic for Conference League explainers.
What happens next
Both teams play again on Thursday, November 5, 2026. It is matchday 3 of the league phase. Trabzonspor host SC Freiburg at Papara Park.
Hearts travel to Switzerland to face FC Thun. The kickoffs are at 18:45 CET, according to UEFA.
Trabzonspor will chase a third straight win. A win over Freiburg would push them close to the knockout rounds.
They will be without Cabral, who must sit out after his red card. The squad has depth, and the home crowd will be loud.
Hearts need a fast response. They have one point from two games. That came from a 1-1 draw with Nordsjaelland on matchday 1, according to UEFA.
Brighton's 4-0 win over Kauno Zalgiris came on matchday 1. It showed how fine the margins are in this league phase. A loss in Switzerland would hurt Hearts badly.
The answers come on November 5. Trabzonspor are flying and want to stay perfect. Hearts must find a goal.
Both stories will move one step forward next month.
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