Hearts ratings and tactical analysis
By Mathew Harold at Hampden:

Hearts made their way across the M8 to Hampden in more hope than expectation as they faced the new Scottish Premier League champions Celtic.

But rather than becoming just cannon fodder, like Kilmarnock a week before, the Jambos maintained their composure after an early Celtic onslaught and booked a place in what will be an historic final against local rivals Hibernian.

Rudi Skacel's close range strike and Craig Beattie's late penalty did the damage, with a Gary Hooper header not enough forthe Hoops.

Defensive start

Hearts started in a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, with Stephen Elliot returning to spearhead the four man attack, and the inclusion of the Irishman helped the Jambos straight away as Elliott used his pace to get onto a misplaced pass by Charlie Mulgrew to create the first opening for the Edinburgh side.

The Jambos continued for the early stages of the match to attempt to snuff out the Celtic attack with a solid backline working as a unit, with the defensive pair of Ian Black and Darren Barr holding in front of defence.

Fluid formation

When Paulo Sergio's team broke forward, both Black and Rudi Skacel in front of him changed into more attacking positions, with Skacel joining Elliot in attack, while Black went into the position vacated by Skacel.

A lapse in communication between Hearts keeper Jamie MacDonald and his skipper Andy Webster almost cost them the first goal as MacDonald rolled the ball out to Webster with Kris Commons lurking and that nearly created havoc as Webster's poor back pass nearly led to the opening goal.

Staying strong defensively

Hearts played out the rest of the first half on the back foot with Celtic's front three of Commons, supporting Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper, while Sergio's side continued to offer little going forward, with Celtic maintaining possession.

Change of emphasis

Sergio showed his intent after the half time break as he threw Craig Beattie into the mix, adding height and strength to his forward line. The gamble paid off immediately as Black found Skacel via a deflection from Kelvin Wilson to open the scoring.

The change in formation had given the Jambos a new belief in the second half and with the introduction of Beattie it also meant Elliott was given the type of support that he required, while allowing Skacel to remain in the hole behind the forwards, where he was given the freedom to shoot at will at Celtic.

Continuing to attack

The Edinburgh outfit continued to threaten their opponents time and time again, with both Beattie and Skacel finding a vast amount of space on the Hampden surface in order to create opening which were given to them by slack Celtic defending.

Put on the back foot

Two substitutions saw Celtic get back into the game, with Victor Wanyama and Dylan McGeough replacing Mikael Lustig and Scott Brown, which gave Celtic the width they were craving for and put both Danny Grainger and Andrew Driver into a defensive mode.

That change ultimately helped contribute to the equaliser as Neil Lennon's side made the pressure on MacDonald's goal constant and ultimately led to Gary Hooper looking to have send the game into extra time.

Dramatic ending

But with a minute to go the script was rewritten as Marius Zaliukas drove a shot from the edge of the area that cannoned off of Joe Ledley's arm and with the referee having pointed to the spot, knowing that Hearts had already missed numerous spots kicks this season, Beattie coolly slotted the ball home.

That was not to be the end of the drama as Webster appeared to block a cross from the right wing with his forearm, but the shouts of both the Celtic fans and the bench were waved away by the referee to seal a famous win for the Edinburgh side.

Player ratings

Jamie MacDonald - 7: The Hearts stopper showed his worth to the Tynecastle side with some superb sides in order to keep his side in the game. Was steady even when he was put under pressure, whether it was by Celtic or by his own players, such as a poor back pass from Andy Webster that could have led to a penalty if he had brought down Kris Commons.

Ryan McGowan - 6.5: Versatile Australian has become a key member of the Hearts side, now in the right back position due to the injury sustained by Jamie Hamill. Never allowed himself to get caught down the wing by either Georgios Samaras or Joe Ledley and provided support to Suso Santana in the second half.

Andy Webster - 6: Dependable as ever for Paulo Sergio's side, was more than capable to deal with the threat that Celtic offered going forward and always looked to start the Hearts attacks from the back with some long range passing.

Marius Zaliukas - 7.0: Withstood the pressure put on him by both Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes, the man usually seen as the weak link of the Tynecastle defence was able to handle some of the aerial bombardment forced upon the Hearts side by their opponents.

Danny Grainger - 6: Handled the task of looking after Scott Brown well as he continually stopped the Celtic captain from being able to get forward, although he was troubled by the introduction of both Victor Wanyama and Dylan McGeough, who helped in Celtic getting back on level terms.

Darren Barr - 6.5: A solid reliable base at the defensive midfield position for Hearts, he snuffed out a lot of the Celtic attacks before they could get near the backline and was a dangerman for Paulo Sergio's side when it came to set pieces.

Ian Black - 6: Was lucky not to see red for his tackle on Joe Ledley, offered Hearts a solid defensive base throughout, but rarely could get into the game in an attacking sense in the first half, due to Celtic's superior possession advantage, his role changed in the second half to just a defensive one as Beattie arrived. Replaced by Suso Santana.

Scott Robinson - 5: Offered little going forward against Charlie Mulgrew, was caught too many times going into the middle of the park and therefore could give Paulo Sergio the width he wanted to the Hampden surface, thus leading to his substitution at half time for Craig Beattie.

Andrew Driver - 6.5: Starting to look like his old self after lengthy layoffs, the Jambos winger tormented Mikael Lustig down the left wing, but he still lacks a final ball, which would have seen Hearts win the game more comfortably.

Rudi Skacel - 7.5: The tormentor in chief for Hearts in the second half, with the introduction of Beattie, it allowed the Czech to sit in the hole behind the front two and with no Celtic defender near him, he was able to trouble Fraser Forster time and time again, also made a superb run to latch onto the pass that saw Hearts take the lead in the second half.

Stephen Elliot - 6.5: The Irishman looked isolated during the first half, with a lack of support available to him, but with the substitution that saw Beattie arrive, that meant he had the space in which to trouble the Celtic defence.

Subs:

Craig Beattie - 8: The game changer for Hearts as the former Celtic man came back to haunt his old team with some superb hold up play and driving runs which also put the Parkhead side's defence on the back foot, he was also steady enough to put the winner away from the penalty spot to claim a place in the cup final.

Suso Santana - 6: Added width to the Hearts side down the right, which they had been sorely lacking throughout, looked to get forward as much as possible.

Denis Prychynenko - 5: Replaced Stephen Elliott to add steel to the midfield for Hearts, could have found his name in lights if he had converted a late free kick, but blasted his chance over the bar.

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