Hibs Come From Behind to Beat Hearts and Reach League Cup Final
Hibernian are through to the Scottish League Cup final after beating Heart of Midlothian 2-1 in Sunday's semi-final at Hampden Park. The competition is sponsored this season, so it is also called the Premier Sports Cup. Hibs will play Rangers in the final on Sunday 13 December, according to the SPFL, six weeks after this game.
The match was a Edinburgh derby played on neutral ground, and it started badly for the home side in the stands. Claudio Braga headed Hearts in front after about two minutes. Hibs did not panic. They turned the tie around and held on, and the win is their first over Hearts at the national stadium in a long time. Before Sunday, Hibs had lost four straight games against Hearts at Hampden, dating back to 2006.
The win mattered most to the man in the dugout. Marink Reedijk had been in charge for four games before this one without a victory. This was his fifth match, and it brought him his first win as Hibs head coach. Joe Newell, a midfielder, was named player of the match.
The club were not in good shape before kick-off. On the eve of the semi-final, Hibs had slipped to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table, after Kilmarnock drew at home with St Johnstone, who had ten men. A cup win does not change the league table, but it does give a squad something to hold on to.
The game nearly took a different turn late on. In the 93rd minute, Jordi Altena swung in a deep free-kick, and goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger caught it. The final whistle followed soon after. Hibs had 19,000 supporters at Hampden, and Hearts had 23,000, according to the club's figures.
For anyone new to Scottish football, the Scottish League Cup is a knockout competition that runs alongside the league season. Teams from the top divisions enter, and the winners lift a trophy and earn a place in the next season's competitions. A semi-final is the round before the final, so a win in this one puts a team within one game of a trophy.
After the match, Reedijk gave his own verdict in the dressing room. "I want music, I want beer," he said. It is a simple line, and it captures the mood. A team that had been bottom of the league on Saturday night had beaten its city rivals in front of a big crowd.
Rangers and Aberdeen contested the other semi-final on Saturday. The final in December will be Hibs' first in this competition since their own run to the final, and the chance of a trophy is now real for a club that was looking up from the bottom only days ago.
