Sander Kartum scored a magnificent double as Hearts defeated struggling William Hill Premiership rivals Dundee 3-1 at Tynecastle to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the fifth time in seven seasons.
The Norwegian midfielder gave the Jambos a 1-0 interval lead with his first goal since arriving from Brann in January before the Dark Blues levelled five minutes after the break through captain Joe Shaugnessy.
But the Edinburgh side regained command through an own goal from Simon Murray and a second of the night from Kartum as Dundee’s pursuit of a first Scottish Cup triumph since 1910 was extended into a 116th year.
Hearts boss Neil Critchley made four changes to the side that started Sunday’s Edinburgh derby defeat at Hibernian, with Adam Forrester, Lewis Neilson, Kartum and Kenneth Vargas all added as the injured Jamie McCart dropped out along with Gerald Taylor, Jorge Grant and James Wilson.
Dundee boss Tony Docherty switched from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 and made two personnel changes to the team that drew 1-1 at home to St Johnstone, as Mo Sylla and the suspended Lyall Cameron were replaced by Ryan Astley and Fin Robertson.
Hearts – chasing Scottish Cup glory for the first time since 2012 – went close in the third minutes when Vargas fired a ferocious strike from the left just beyond the far post after Kartum had switched the ball as the hosts broke following a Dundee corner.
The visitors, thrashed 6-0 by Hearts last month and struggling in the league, were competitive in the early stages and Murray threatened in the 14th minute when he cut in from the left and saw a low shot gathered by Craig Gordon.
But the Jambos made the breakthrough in the 27th minute when Kartum curled a sublime shot into Trevor Carson’s top right-hand corner after being teed up on the edge of the ‘D’ following good work by Lawrence Shankland and Blair Spittal.
Shankland had a lobbed effort ruled out 10 minutes later for offside against team-mate Elton Kabangu before Dundee attacker Seun Adewumi hit the bar in the last action of the first half after getting in behind the home defence.
The Dark Blues made a change for the start of the second half as Sylla replaced Jordan McGhee, but the hosts almost doubled their lead three minutes after the restart when Kartum curled just over from similar range to his goal.
The visitors drew level in the 50th minute when Shaughnessy, who recently returned from 10 months out injured, powered home a close-range header following a brilliant cross from the left by Ziyad Larkeche.
Hearts regained the initiative with a degree of fortune in the 63rd minute when Spittal’s driven free-kick from the left was inadvertently glanced into his own net by the head of Murray.
And four minutes later, the Edinburgh side were in full control when Shankland fed Kartum, who spun away from Robertson and drove into the box before flicking an exquisite finish with outside of his left foot low beyond Carson from 16 yards out.
Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...
David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...
Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Marcus Rashford is “progressively getting better” in all aspects of his game following his first Premier League goal for the club.The on-loan Manchester United forward set Villa on course for a comprehensive 3-0 win over fellow European hopefuls Brighton with a 51st-minute finish at the Amex Stadium.Rashford’s milestone strike came three days ...
Southampton boss Ivan Juric vowed to keep fighting as relegation moved sharply into focus after Crystal Palace denied them only a third Premier League win of the season.Substitute Matheus Franca’s stoppage-time header, to secure a 1-1 draw for the Eagles, means Saints will be down at the weekend if they lose at Tottenham and Wolves beat Ipswich.If relegation is confirmed on Sunday, Southampt...
Derby boss John Eustace insists his side are reaping the rewards for the hard work they have put in since he was appointed as manager after the Rams earned a 2-0 win over Preston to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.Derby came out firing after a lacklustre opening period and Craig Forsyth coolly slotted the hosts in front with his fourth goal of the season.The Rams doubled thei...
Notts County manager Stuart Maynard hailed a “massive” three points as his side comfortably saw off MK Dons at Meadow Lane to maintain their promotion challenge.Two stunning strikes from David McGoldrick and Will Jarvis from the edge of the box, either side of Nick Tsaroulla’s close-range effort, earned County a convincing 3-0 win.“I think every three points is massive now,...
Kieran McKenna was not getting too giddy dreaming of a miracle escape from relegation after Ipswich beat Bournemouth 2-1 to pick up their first Premier League win of 2025.Goals from Nathan Broadhead and top-scorer Liam Delap did the damage as Ipswich put a further dent in Bournemouth’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.McKenna, whose side are still nine points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves who t...
Liverpool re-established their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League with Diogo Jota’s strike against Everton settling a second controversial Merseyside derby of the season.Jota’s first league goal since mid-January was potentially one of his most important of the campaign as the 1-0 victory kept second-placed Arsenal at more than arm’s length.It also ended Everton manag...
Ewan Otoo poured cold water on Livingston’s title ambitions in the Scottish Championship by netting the winner in struggling Dunfermline’s 1-0 win.Three points for the visitors would have been enough to lift them above Ayr United and within five of pace-setters Falkirk, but they were unable to take the chance.After back-to-back wins they were brought back to earth at East End Park, whe...
- 1 Hot WAG flaunts 'astonishing' washboard abs in bikini
- 2 Danny Rohl hails Sheffield Wednesday resilience in draw at Cardiff
- 3 Alfie May double sends Birmingham step closer to Championship
- 4 Marcus Rashford scores first Premier League goal for Villa in win at Brighton
- 5 Ryan Lowe and Conor Hourihane felt team deserved more as Wigan and Barnsley draw
- 6 Mat Sadler hails Taylor Allen set-piece skills after Walsall snatch draw
- 7 Chris Davies says Alfie May’s goal drought never concerned him
- 8 Football fan 'eats' raw pig's head in ultimate insult
- 9 Marcus Rashford still looking to improve after firing Villa into FA Cup semis
- 10 Chelsea prepare €70m for Barcelona defender