Hibs produced a dramatic late comeback from two goals down to force a replay against Hearts in a hard fought and sometimes ill-tempered Scottish Cup tie at Tynecastle this afternoon.
Hearts looked to be cruising into the quarter finals after going in at half time with a deserved two goal advantage however the second period belonged to Alan Stubbs’ men and the fans of both teams are now eagerly awaiting another action packed 90 minutes which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 16th February with a 7.45pm kick off.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson made three changes to the starting XI that drew with Hamilton two weeks ago. Jordan McGhee, Sam Nicholson and debutant Abiola Dauda replaced Billy King, Osman Sow and Igor Rossi. There had been speculation that Sow would play one last game for Hearts before his move to China, however this proved not to be the case and he took his seat in the stand. New signings Don Cowie and John Souttar started on the bench.
Hibs Head Coach Alan Stubbs made four changes with David Gray, Paul Hanlon, Marvin Bartley and Jason Cummings taking over from Niklas Gunnarsson and Liam Fontaine who were both listed amongst the substitutes, James Keatings and Fraser Fyvie who missed the game due to a knee injury picked up against Morton.
Hibs started brightly and Neil Alexander did well to turn a John McGinn curling effort round the post before Cummings had the ball in the net from the resultant corner however his strike was correctly ruled out for offside.
Hearts were forced into an early substitution in the 9th minute when Prince Bauben had to leave the field with an injury and was replaced by Cowie.
Hibs almost took the lead in the 20th minute when Anthony Stoke’s header from a Liam Henderson corner flew inches over the bar.
Dylan McGeouch picked up a knock and was replaced by Kevin Thomson just before Hearts took the lead in spectacular fashion. Callum Paterson sent in a speculative cross from the right and Lewis Stevenson appeared to slip as he cleared with a diving header. The ball fell to Arnaud Djoum who spectacularly fired the ball into the corner of the net from 25 yards.
Alim Ozturk was booked for blocking a Stokes run then McGhee was booked for a bad challenge on McGinn and Paterson was lucky to escape a yellow card for a foul on Bartley as Hibs fought to get back into the game.
With half time approaching Hearts doubled their advantage. Paterson sent a superb cross field ball which was well controlled by Nicholson who cut inside and fired a powerful strike past Oxley from 15 yards. The youngster was then booked for his celebrations.
The bookings continued just after the break when Bartley was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Djoum before Stubbs decided to change formation replacing skipper Gray with Gunnarsson with Paul Hanlon taking the captain’s arm band.
Gunnarsson almost pulled one back with a fine header from a Gray cross then Stokes hit the side netting after a back post cross Henderson as Hibs pressed for an equaliser. Stokes had two free-kicks from dangerous positions but neither tested Alexander and the Hibs’ fans behind the goal looked to have accepted defeat.
Tempers flared on the hour mark when McGregor was booked for a challenge on Nicholson which culminated in players from both sides pushing and shoving each other. As the dust settled yellow cards were shown to McGregor, Stokes and Blazel Augustyn.
That mood changed however with ten minutes remaining. McGinn took a short free kick to Henderson who sent a superb cross into the box and Cummings looped a tremendous header over Alexander into the corner of the net.
Minutes later Stevenson forced a fine save from Alexander as Hibs produced attack after attack searching for an equaliser however Hearts looked dangerous on the break and Bartley did well to stop a run by Duada.
Good work between Cummings and Stokes then set up Bartley however his first touch let him down and the ball ended up with Alexander.
Stevenson gave away a needless free-kick which Paterson sent into the box and Dauda’s header flew inches past the post.
The fourth official indicated four minutes of added on time just as Gunnarrson won a corner on the right. McGinn sent the ball into the danger area and McGregor’s powerful header was saved at point blank range by Alexander. The ball fell to Hanlon who appeared to have lost his balance but was able to fire the ball into the net with his right foot.
The acting skipper was booked for his celebration however the excitement did not end there.
In the last minute of stoppage time Gunnarsson defected a cross onto his own crossbar and from the resultant corner Augustyn’s header was cleared off the line by Thomson causing a ‘stramash’ inside the penalty box but the ball was eventually cleared and both sides had to settle for a draw.
Hearts: Alexander, Paterson, Ozturk, Augustyn, McGhee, Bauben, Djoum, Pallardo, Nicholson, Reilly, Dauda. Subs: Hamilton, Oshaniwa, Souttar, Cowie, Walker, Juanma, Zanatta
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, Henderson, Hanlon, McGregor, Bartley, McGeouch, Stevenson, McGinn, Stokes, Cummings. Subs Virtanen, Fontaine, Boyle, Keatings, Dagnall, Gunnarsson, Thomson.
Referee Craig Thompson
Attendance 16,854
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.
