Hearts 3 - 0 Dundee United: It's three and easy for Hearts

"EASY, easy", they chanted as the clock ticked down, and for once, it was. While Hearts' progress into Europe was the product mainly of durability, the performance with which they sealed the deal proved that they can also play a bit.

Early goals by Lee Wallace and Bruno Aguiar, supplemented by Eggert Jonsson's late penalty, confirmed not only their participation in next season's Europa League, but their status as Scotland's third-best team.

Having failed to score in any of their previous four matches, it was quite a transformation in Csaba Laszlo's side, who are now five points clear of fourth-placed United with one match left. Their strength this season has been to avoid defeat, rather than inflict it, but they swept their opponents aside in a breathless opening half hour, before moving on to secure their biggest league win of the season.

In truth, Europe was almost a formality for Hearts, but securing third place spares them an extra qualifying round, and they later celebrated as though they had won the championship. Csaba Laszlo was out on the pitch, thrown in the air by his players, and asked by the public announcer to share a few words with the crowd. No problem there then.

Robbie Neilson had the family in tow, Aguiar was urged by the chanting fans to sign a new contract, and Christos Karipidis, making his last appearance in Gorgie, was handed an emotional send-off. The big defender, who is heading for Omonia Nicosia this summer, was given a standing ovation when he was substituted in injury time, after which there was a big hug from Laszlo.

It was a memorable afternoon for the sometimes eccentric Hungarian, who has won two manager-of-the-year awards, and is fast earning himself a reputation as the Scottish game's most colourful character. His press conference afterwards was like an Oscars speech – with thanks to the players, supporters, media, even Tynecastle itself – but he hasn't come this far without adding method to the madness.

In among the euphoria was his demand for a new contract, and a plea for the club's owner, Vladimir Romanov, to strengthen the squad. "I hope the time I spend here can be extended," he said. "I hope also that the signal comes to keep this team together and bring also quality. Playing European football is not easy. I don't want to fly out in the first game. Everything that we have achieved would be for nothing."

United, who had promised to attack, to show the same verve which scared Celtic in midweek, never came close. Only a couple of lame penalty claims threatened to ruin the party, but even their manager, Craig Levein, admitted that hardly any of his players achieved pass marks. His side, who had hoped to be third by full-time, are now in a battle to remain fourth. While they are entertaining Rangers next weekend, Aberdeen will be hoping to close the three-point deficit with a home win against Hibs.

For Hearts, who round off their season at Celtic Park, the job is done. In as colourful and exuberant a display of football as they have produced all season, they raised the roof of this old ground, subduing the splash of tangerine that packed its away section. Two up within 27 minutes, the home fans were soon swirling the scarves about their heads , and belting out the name of their likeable coach. "Csaba, Csaba, gies a wave," they cried, to which he responded with a regal waft of his right hand.

Wallace, in particular, rose to the occasion in what was a thunderous start, bursting down the left at every opportunity. The full-back almost created the opener when his cutback from the byeline picked out Aguiar on the edge of the six-yard area. The midfielder had only to make contact, it seemed, but he rammed his shot against the goalkeeper.

Wallace is one of several young players Hearts have tied up on long-term contracts, and this was proof of the sense in that strategy. When the defender surged forward a second time, his attempted one-two with Calum Elliot seemed to break off an opponent. Taking the loose ball in his stride, Wallace looked up and drove his left-shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.

If the first goal was thanks to one man's determination, speed of thought and feet brought about the second. When Robbie Neilson was alert enough to take a quick throw-in down by the corner flag, Elliot's low cross to the front post invited someone to make a run. Aguiar was the player who obliged, dashing in front of his marker, Lee Wilkie, and turning his shot past Lukasz Zaluska.

Laszlo must have been enjoying all this, even if it didn't always look that way. It is quite a spectacle watching the former Uganda coach on days like these. He had every reason to be satisfied, but here he was, gesticulating furiously on the touchline, at one stage threatening to batter the roof of his dugout. Poor David Obua was taking an earful from the hard-to-please manager who was surely only demonstrating his reluctance to take anything for granted.

Hearts are a resilient lot, who know how to protect a lead, but they didn't just shut up shop. If their second-half performance wasn't nearly so impressive as their first, they continued to play as though they were enjoying themselves. Aguiar, as ever, was the best value, at one point taking out two defenders with a flick over his own head. When he lobbed another lovely pass into the path of Elliot, it was a pity that the latter couldn't reward him. The young striker snatched at the chance, firing his left-foot volley high over the crossbar.

Hearts showed character in the absence of the injured Andy Driver and the suspended Marius Zaliukas. Aguiar had been on antibiotics for three days, but demanded to play. Obua and Ruben Palazuelos had both taken injections. When a soft challenge by Garry Kenneth on Elliot led the referee to award a late penalty, Jonsson stood in for the substituted Aguiar, sliding his spot kick low inside the right-hand post. It was the cue for a demoralised travelling support to make their excuses and leave.

Everything you wanted to know about the Europa League but were afraid to ask

What is the Europa League and how many teams from Scotland will be taking part?

The Europa League is the re-branded and re-structured UEFA Cup. The format is more like the Champions League in the hope of making it more lucrative. Four SPL teams will enter next season. It was initially meant to be three but Scotland have been handed an extra place through the Fair Play Award. This place is likely to go to Motherwell.

How many qualifying rounds are there?

There are officially three qualifying rounds and a play-off round before the group stage starts.

At what stage do Scottish clubs enter?

In every nation the cup winners are given preferential treatment and entered in at the latest possible round allocated to the country. In Scotland the cup winners will enter the play-off round, with the team finishing third in the SPL entering the third qualifying round and the fourth-placed side entering the second qualifying round. The Fair Play team enters at the first qualifying round.

What happens if Rangers win the Scottish Cup?

If Rangers, already assured of (at the very least) the qualifying rounds for the Champions League, win the cup then Falkirk would still have a chance to enter the Europa League but their entry position would be knocked down to the second qualifying round, with the third and fourth-placed SPL sides both being bumped up a round.

How big a difference could it make to finish third and fourth in the SPL table in terms of qualifying for the Europa League?

Potentially it could make a huge difference. If Rangers win the Scottish Cup then the team finishing third will enter at the play-off round. These matches are played on 20 and 27 August, after the domestic season has begun. The team finishing fourth would have to play their first European game on 30 July, before the season starts. Should Falkirk win the Scottish Cup, the team finishing fourth would have their first match on 16 July, halfway through most teams' pre-season.

Where would the team who won the Fair Play Award enter?

There are only three Fair Play places up for grabs throughout Europe and luckily Scotland has been handed one of them. Unfortunately for the Fair Play winners, they will enter the competition at the first qualifying round which will mean starting their 2009/10 season on 2 July, a mere 33 days after the Scottish Cup final officially ends the 2008/09 season.

How tough is the opposition in the play-off round likely to be?

Very tough. Entering the round will be two teams from each of the nine countries above Scotland in the UEFA ranking (including England, Italy and Spain) along with 35 teams that made it through the previous qualifying round and 15 teams dropping out of the Champions League third qualifying round.

When does the group stage start?

The draw is made on 28 August and there first group match will be on 17 September. The final groups games will be played over two nights on 16 and 17 December.

What is the format for the group stage?

The group stage features 12 groups of four teams (the old UEFA Cup features five-team groups). There will be more games to play at this stage (six as opposed to four) as matches will now be played home and away. Teams finishing first and second in all 12 groups will enter the knockout rounds along with eight teams who finished third in the Champions League groups.

So teams who fail in the Champions League get a second bite at the cherry with the Europa League?

Yes. Just like the current UEFA Cup system, the Europa League we will have teams filtering down from the Champions League. Fifteen teams defeated teams from the third qualifying round for the Champions League will enter the play-off round for the Europa League; ten defeated teams from the play-off round for the Champions League will enter the group stages in the Europa League; and eight third places teams from the Champions League group stages will join the Europa League knockout rounds. For teams exiting the Europa League there is no other European competition to fall back into.

How many games will teams likely have to play to win the tournament?

In short anything from between 9 to 23 Europa League fixtures. Teams finishing third from the Champions League group stages could console themselves with the fact they only have eight matches standing between them and a European final, while teams entering the first round of qualifying for the Europa League would have to navigate past eight knockout rounds on both sides of a six-game group stage before playing in the 2010 final in Hamburg.

How does it compare with the Champions League?

It's almost a mirror image. The only differences being that the Champions League will have one less round after the group stages.

What's the point?

The reason for the change in name and structure is an attempt by UEFA to revitalise Europe's second-tier competition. UEFA will now take control of television rights and advertising in the hope of generating more income for the teams involved. Season 2007/08 managed to raise more than £450 million to be shared amongst the teams competing in the Champions League while the UEFA Cup raised just £32m.

CRAIG FOWLER