Hibernian 0 Hearts 2

Hibernian were this afternoon knocked out of the Scottish Cup by local rivals Heart of Midlothian, goals in each half from Nade and Glen meant it was the maroon side of Edinburgh who were rejoicing this time around - but it was a controversial afternoon with Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher shown a straight red card by referee Thomson after just 30 minutes, a blow from which the home side never recovered.

Hibernian 0 Heart of Midlothian 2
Homecoming Scottish Cup
Sunday11th January 2008

Mixu Paatelainen made two changes from the team that were held to a goal-less draw last weekend at Tynecastle. Dropping out were Alan O’Brien and Steven Thicot who were replaced by John Rankin and returning skipper Rob Jones, who had managed to recover from the injury that kept him out last weekend. Jonatan Johansson was named in the starting eleven for his home debut while fellow new signing Grzegorz Szamotulski took a place on the subs bench.

image Hibernian got the action underway and it was not long before the crunching tackles began from both sides, so much so that the ball required to be replaced within 3 minutes! The home side created the first chance with the new ball seconds on the park - Balogh failed to clear his lines from a cross by Rankin and the ball dropped to Riordan who sent it back towards goal with a first time volley only for Palazuelos to block for the games first corner kick.

Bamba was given a word of warning by referee Thomson for a trip on Wallace soon after as the tackles continued to fly in. After a quick counter attack Cesnauskis flashed a cross along the face of the Hibernian goal but there were no takers in a maroon shirt. Hibernian should have opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Bamba cut the Hearts defence wide open to present Fletcher with a glorious opportunity clear through on the goalkeeper, however the striker attempted to take the ball beyond Balogh who produced a fantastic stop. Soon after Zaliukas had a fresh air swipe that almost allowed Riordan in behind but once again goalkeeper Balogh was the Hearts hero as he raced from his line to gather after spotting the danger.

Hearts captain Berra picked up a yellow card for pulling down Johansson as Hibernian tried to break down the right. That gave the home side the chance to push men forward for the set-piece but a poor delivery from Riordan saw the chance wasted. On 30 minutes Hibernian were reduced to ten men when striker Fletcher was shown a straight red card by referee Thomson for a challenge on Berra. It appeared to be a very harsh decision to award a straight red, even more when viewed from various camera angles – an advantage however that the official did not have at his disposal.

Hibernian were further stunned when Hearts took full advantage of the extra man and went in front on 38 minutes. Driver stole in behind Van Zanten, the ball went wide and with Murray covering Ma-Kalambay had no real need to follow the ball – he did however, and when Driver got to the ball first and cut it back it left Nade with the simplest possible opportunity to blast the ball into an unprotected net from inside the six-yard box.

The referee’s whistle to end the first half meant that Hibernian could get back into the dressing room and regroup. The official’s decision to red card Hibs’ striker Fletcher was always going to have a huge impact on this game, but there was still at least 45 minutes still to play and the Easter Road men were not out of it yet.

Half Time: Hibernian 0 Heart of Midlothian 1

Hibernian make a change during the break with Szamotulski replacing Ma-Kalambay, who had appeared to be complaining of a hamstring injury towards the end of the opening 45 minutes. The substitute was put under pressure early – but not from the visitors attack, Van Zanten played a terrible pass back to the goalkeeper from a ball the stopper had covered, but the Polish international did well under pressure from Driver to clear.

imageHearts were putting ten-man Hibernian under a lot of pressure as they looked to kill the tie. The wind and rain were making playing conditions incredibly difficult for both teams with a number of passes not finding their intended targets. A long range effort from Bamba fizzed past the Balogh’s left hand post as Hibernian desperately went in search of an equaliser. The home players were giving their all and just before the hour mark, Stevenson picked up a yellow card for a tackle on Wallace. The midfielder appeared to have won the ball fairly and the linesman who was next to the play did not spot any infringement, but referee Thomson must have as he raced over to discipline the player.

Nade should have doubled Hearts lead soon after when he was picked out inside the Hibs box by Cesnauskis. The powerful striker had time to control the ball and turn before shooting but his effort lacked any real power and was comfortably held by Szamotulski. Hibernian attempted to change the course game by replacing Riordan and Johansson with O’Brien and Nish. Riordan picked up a deserved yellow card when he allowed his frustrations to get the better of him by gesturing towards the visiting support, but play had barely restarted before he was joined in the referee’s book by Hearts defender Zaliukas after a cynical foul on Rankin.

A lob from long range by Rankin almost caught out Hearts goalkeeper Balogh who had to scramble back to his goal line to keep the effort out. At the other end a fine header from Nade was kept out by an equally fine save by Szamotulski The card count continued to rise when Rankin became the latest player to be cautioned. The clock was fast running out for Hibernian but they were struggling to put any real pressure on Balogh’s goal as Hearts continued to use their extra man advantage to good use. The visitors replaced Obua with Glen on 81 minutes and the visitors almost killed off Hibs challenge with 4 minutes remaining when Driver fired a powerful effort towards the far top corner only for Szamotulski to keep it out.

The fourth official signalled 5 minutes of time to be added on with Hibs captain Jones now pushed up front in an attempt to salvage something from this game. It was a gamble that did not pay off when Hearts put the game out of reach for the Easter Road side. Glen raced onto a through ball and took advantage as it sprung loose from the Hibernian goalkeeper at the edge of the area, allowing the young striker the simplest of tasks in tapping the ball home.

That ended Hibs hopes in this competition for another year, but the Easter Road men had not done enough during the 90 minutes to have warranted anything less. The Hearts defence were on top throughout with Hibernian creating just one clear cut chance in the entire game.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, Van Zanten, Hogg, Jones, Murray, Fletcher, Stevenson, Rankin, Bamba, Johansson, Riordan. Subs: Szamotulski, Yantorno, Nish, O’Brien, Chisholm.

Heart of Midlothian: Balogh, Wallace, Berra, Karipidis, Palazuelos, Driver, Nade, Obua, Cesnauskis, Jonsson, Zaliukas. Subs: Kello, Thomson, Stewart, Templeton, Glen.

Referee: Craig Thomson

Attendance: 14,837