A Jason Cummings’ goal in the third minute was enough to secure a Scottish Cup quarter final place after a hard fought ill-tempered Edinburgh derby at Easter Road tonight which saw both teams finish with ten men.
In the proverbial ‘game of two halves.’ Hibs dominated the first 45 minutes and could easily have gone in at the break two or three goals to the good, but Hearts had the better of the second period and were unlucky not to take the game to extra time.
Alan Stubbs made one change to the team that drew 1-1 with Livingston on Saturday evening with Kevin Thomson, making his first start since his return to the club, replacing Chris Dagnall who was listed amongst the substitutes. Dylan McGeouch who was injured during the cup tie at Tynecastle failed to recover in time to make the squad.
Robbie Neilson made three changes from the starting XI that beat Ross County last week. Blazej Augustyn and Igor Rossi returned from suspension to replace John Souttar and Juwon Oshaniwa whilst Sam Nicholson made way for Abiola Dauda up front. Augustyn skippered the team in the absence of the suspended Amil Ozturk.
Hibs kicked off before a packed stadium and took the lead in the third minute. John McGinn did well to beat several Hearts’ players before finding David Gray on the right wing. The full back’s first cross was blocked but Liam Henderson picked up the loose ball and returned it to Gray whose second effort found Cummings unmarked inside the six yard box. The youngster made no mistake and calmly hammered the ball past Neil Alexander in the Hearts’ goal before being booked for his celebrations.
Hearts almost equalised two minutes later but Dauda’s close range header flew past the post.
Henderson and Anthony Stokes set up Cummings who beat the offside trap and found himself one on one with Alexander but instead of shooting, he tried to round the keeper who managed to clear the ball with his foot.
Anthony Stokes, who was being watched by Roy Keane, then forced a good save from Alexander after cutting in from the left.
Hearts thought they had equalised in the 19th minute when Dauda headed in a Jordan McGhee cross at the back post but the celebrations were short lived as the linesman had his flag raised for offside. The Hearts’ players surrounded the referee and linesman but their protests were in vain.
Callum Paterson then went close after Paul Hanlon’s clearance deflected off Darren McGregor and the frenetic first half ended with Marvin Bartley being booked for a challenge on Miguel Pallardo.
In the 51st minute, another superb piece of skill by McGinn on the by-line ended with a cut back to Lewis Stevenson but the full back’s shot went wide.
Rossi then hit the side net from a Paterson’s cross as play raged from end to end.
Pallardo should have been shown a second yellow card for bringing down McGinn in front of the dug-outs but incredibly referee John Beaton kept his cards in his pockets to the fury of three sides of the stadium.
Neilson however saw the ‘writing on the wall’ and immediately decided to replace him with Nicholson.
With tempers running high, Thomson was lucky to avoid a red card for a bad tackle on Walker.
Paterson then sent ball across the face of the goal but Juanma Delgado was unable to connect with the ball..
The Hearts’ fans behind the goal were celebrating in the 66th minute when another Paterson’s cross was bundled into the net by Delgado but once again the linesman’s flag was raised and the ‘goal’ was disallowed.
A minute later Mark Oxley was booked for time wasting then Stokes set up Cummings again but the striker’s effort was easily saved.
With time running out there were two ridiculous sending off in the space of a few minutes. Hanlon had clearly been fouled in midfield and when the free kick was awarded Augustyn threw the ball away in disgust earning a second yellow card.
Moments later Cummings followed him down the tunnel after kicking the ball away. At first it appeared the no action would be taken but the Hearts players surrounded the referee and Cummings appeared to argue with the official and was shown a second yellow card.
Hearts then had a penalty claim rejected when Stevenson challenged Jamie Walker who immediately signalled to the bench that he was unable to continue.
The fourth official indicated five minutes of additional time then with Hearts pushing forward at every opportunity Martin Boyle collected the ball in his own half, ran 50 yards before sliding the ball to fellow substitute James Keatings who shot wide with the goal gaping.
Thankfully the miss was soon forgotten as the referee blew for full-time sparking wild celebrations amongst the Hibs’ supporters.
After the game Stubbs said: “It was a close game as I said it would be, but we have created the clearer chances and had to deal with difficult balls into the box.”
Hibs now face Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the quarter finals.
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, Henderson, Hanlon, McGregor, Bartley, Thomson, Stevenson, McGinn, Stokes, Cummings. Subs Virtanen, Fontaine, Boyle, Keatings, Dagnall, Gunnarsson, Carmichael.
Hearts: Alexander, Paterson, Augustyn, Rossi, McGhee,, Djoum, Pallardo, Cowie, Walker, Juanma Dauda. Subs: Hamilton, Oshaniwa, Souttar, Beith, Zanatta, Nicholson, Reilly
Attendance 19,433
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
