Hearts strike late to seal place in Premier Sports Cup final eight
A 6-2 defeat of Inverness books their place in the next round.
Hearts produced a late goal flurry as they overcame a second-half wobble to book their place in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup with a 6-2 home win over Championship side Inverness.
The Jambos briefly trailed after Caley Thistle pair Ryan Duncan and Alfie Bavidge cancelled out Christian Borchgrevink’s first-half opener.
But Rogers Mato swiftly levelled things up before Hearts took command in the closing stages through a Calvin Miller double and goals from subs James Wilson and Claudio Braga.
Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken made five changes to the XI that started Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Benfica, including handing a first start to Mato since the Ugandan winger joined in January.
The Jambos – starting out on their latest quest to win the League Cup for the first time since 1962 – had a let-off in the fourth minute after Inverness thought they had gone ahead.
Bavidge drilled home a clinical finish from Alfie Stewart’s low delivery but Caley’s celebrations were cut short when VAR spotted an offside.
Following this reprieve, Hearts started to seize the initiative and they were awarded a penalty in the 13th minutes after Amadou Ba-Sy went down under a challenge from Graeme Shinnie as he drove into the box.
After a lengthy VAR check, it was deemed that the offence had instead taken place outside the box.
Hearts made the resulting free-kick count nonetheless. Sabah Kerjota’s powerful strike bounced up off the defensive wall and right-back Borchgrevink, from the angle of the six-yard box, arced a looping header over goalkeeper Ross Munro and in under the crossbar for his first goal since arriving at Tynecastle last summer.
Kerjota almost got his own first Hearts goal in the 32nd minute when he darted in to meet Ba-Sy’s cut back but the lively Albanian’s close-range shot spun up and off the top of the crossbar.
Just as the hosts looked to be in command, the Championship side turned the scoreline around with two goals in quick succession.
The equaliser came in the 53rd minute when Duncan latched on to Danny Devine’s ball over the top and thumped an emphatic finish beyond the exposed Beau Reus from 10 yards out.
And three minutes later, Hearts were left stunned as Stewart released Bavidge, who rounded goalkeeper Reus and rolled the ball home despite the efforts of Stuart Findlay to keep it out.
But the Premiership side were level within two minutes when Mato rose to head in Kerjota’s cross from the right for his first Hearts goal.
The Edinburgh side eventually got themselves back in front in the 82nd minute through a penalty from Miller after Kerjota was fouled by Noa Boutin.
The visitors’ hopes of a fightback were dashed two minutes later when Wilson bundled in from close range after Braga was denied by Munro.
Braga then added Hearts’ fifth with a stunning finish into the top corner from a Borchgrevink delivery on the 90-minute mark before Miller ran clear to seal victory with his second of the game deep into stoppage time.