Despite some early flurries from the Dons, Hearts seemed to be dealing calmly and confidently with their opponents and moved ahead through Oisin McEntee’s close-range strike.
New players like Amadou Ba-Sy and Lauren Mendy integrated fairly seamlessly with experienced heads like captain for the night Harry Milne and Blair Spittal. And there were chances for a second goal, with the final ball or shot often just the wrong choice.
All seemed well, until the 90th minute. Vrancken had urged his players to be more clinical in both boxes after 4-0 and 2-0 defeats by Sturm Graz in Champions League qualifying. They had partially addressed that with their goal but were undone defensively.
Milne’s booking-producing foul on Lewis Smith was the first real dent in Hearts’ defensive resolve and Stuart Armstrong’s free-kick delivery caused chaos. Dan Happe headed back across goal and Nisbet and Lewis Mayo raced in to apply the finish.
Mayo was eventually credited with the goal and Hearts’ hopes of a VAR reprieve for any infringement were dashed.
And it got worse for the visitors as Stuart Findlay fouled the running figure of Toyosi Olusanya in the box, meaning a penalty and a red card for the Hearts defender. Nisbet may have been denied the first goal but wasn’t going to be denied again.
Now Vrancken faces the task of rousing his players for the arduous task of taking on the might of Portugal’s Benfica in Europa League qualifying, the first leg scheduled for Thursday at 20:00 BST in Lisbon.
“We give it away in five minutes,” was the Belgian’s post-match response.
“We had to be smarter. We were going in attack with too many people there instead of keeping control and managing the counter, especially when you are 1-0 ahead.
“When the next game is on again, you have to switch again because you cannot go with these feelings again in the next game. We have to be ready and fully focused again.”
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