Salah leads Trabzonspor past Hearts as Brighton held by Jablonec

Mohamed Salah scored one goal and created another as Trabzonspor beat Hearts 2-0 in the Conference League on Thursday, while Brighton drew 0-0 away to Jablonec. According to the Press Association report carried by the Guardian, Hearts competed well in Turkey but were beaten by a goal in each half, leaving them with one point from two matches.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY2nY6v0gEA

Salah put Trabzonspor ahead with a first-half penalty before providing the assist for Franculino to score after the interval. The former Liverpool forward therefore had a direct role in both goals against Wouter Vrancken's side. Hearts' next assignment in the competition is an away match against Swiss champions Thun in a fortnight.

The Scottish club's preparations had already been disrupted by an injury to left-back Harry Milne during training. The report described it as a suspected anterior cruciate ligament injury, rather than a confirmed diagnosis. Hearts were already dealing with injuries before facing Trabzonspor, and their performance in a difficult away atmosphere did not produce a goal or a point.

Brighton's visit to northern Czechia ended without a goal from either side, a contrast with their scoring record in England. They had scored 23 times in their opening seven Premier League games, the highest total in the division. The draw followed their 5-0 league victory over Crystal Palace, but they could not reproduce that scoring form against Jablonec.

Fabian Hürzeler marked his 100th match in charge by making eight changes to the Brighton team. Bart Verbruggen, Olivier Boscagli and Pascal Gross were the only players retained from the Palace win. Jack Hinshelwood, Georginio Rutter and Ibrahim Osman had the visitors' best opportunities, but none was able to turn those chances into the goal that would have broken the deadlock.

Jablonec also threatened and looked more likely to score late in the match, the report said. Antonín Rusek nearly punished an error by Joao Costinha before Verbruggen made a fingertip save to stop Jiri Slama's effort reaching the top corner. That intervention helped Brighton preserve a clean sheet on an evening when their own attack was held scoreless.