Hearts bounced back from the disappointment of being eliminated from the Europa Conference League to defeat RFS 2-1 at Tynecastle and secure the consolation of a third-place finish in Group A.
Both sides had been dealt a pre-match blow as their slender hopes of progressing to the knockout phase were extinguished after Fiorentina beat Istanbul Basaksehir in the other match in the section, which finished shortly before the clash in Edinburgh got under way.
But Hearts showed no sign of despondency as they raced into a two-goal lead through early strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Andy Halliday before a wonder goal from Kevin Friesenbichler brought the Latvian champions back into it.
Jambos boss Robbie Neilson made three enforced changes to the side that started Sunday’s 4-3 defeat at home to Celtic as Jorge Grant, Shankland and Halliday replaced injured duo Stephen Humphrys and Cammy Devlin and the ineligible Robert Snodgrass.
With just three minutes gone, the home side opened the scoring when Shankland slid in to poke the ball home from close range after Josh Ginnelly was released down the right by a pass from Grant and fired over an inviting low cross.