And, eight minutes into the second half, Irish striker Anthony Stokes scored the first of his two goals on the night by curling a free-kick pastthe despairing Hearts goalkeeper.
Former Millwall striker Braniff could have broken the deadlock as early as the third minute when he curled a free-kick pastthe wall but O'Hare produced a superb save to push the ball round for a corner.
After Ramos fired inches wide from the edge of the box Villa was presented with a glorious opportunity to score a World Cup hat-trick when Izaguirre brought Navas down in the area, only for the striker to step up and slot his spot-kick pastthe post.