| 2019 Scottish Cup Final | |
| Event: | 2018–19 Scottish Cup |
| Team1: | Heart of Midlothian |
| Team1score: | 1 |
| Team2: | Celtic |
| Team2score: | 2 |
| Stadium: | Hampden Park |
| City: | Glasgow |
| Referee: | Willie Collum[1] |
| Attendance: | 49,434 |
| Previous: | 2018 |
| Next: | 2020 |
The 2019 Scottish Cup Final was the 134th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2018–19 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 25 May 2019 and was contested by Heart of Midlothian and Celtic. This was the fourth time that the two clubs had met in a Scottish Cup final with the previous finals being in 1901, 1907 and 1956. Of the three previous meetings in the final, Heart of Midlothian had won two and Celtic one.
As Scottish Premiership clubs, Hearts and Celtic both entered the tournament in the fourth round. For Hearts, they only had one Premiership side to make it to the final. They did need a replay in the quarter-finals against Partick Thistle before defeating Inverness in the first semi. After defeating League One side Airdrieonians in the fourth round, Celtic defeated three other Premiership clubs to make it to the final, having overcome Aberdeen in the semi-final.
The match was Celtic's 57th appearance in the Scottish Cup final and Hearts 15th. In the match, it was Celtic that won the match 2–1 with both goals coming from French striker Odsonne Édouard. This meant that Celtic completed a third successive domestic treble ("treble treble"), a feat which had not previously been achieved in Scottish football.[2] [3]
See main article: 2018–19 Scottish Cup.
See also: 2018–19 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season.
| -- | + Heart of Midlothian --> | Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | 4th | Livingston (H) | 1–0 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | 5th | Auchinleck Talbot (H) | 4–0 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | Quarter-final Replay | Partick Thistle (A) Partick Thistle (H) | 1–1 2–1 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | Semi-final | Inverness Caledonian Thistle (N) | 3–0 |
In the fifth round they were drawn against Junior club Auchinleck Talbot at home who had knocked out an Championship side in the previous round.[6] The match saw four different goal scorers with Christophe Berra scoring the opener in the tenth minute of play. Two more goals from Demetri Mitchell and Steven MacLean opened the gap to three goals before the break. A goal in the second half from Aidan Keena secured the 4-0 win but not before an injury forced them down to ten men for the final twelve minutes.[7]
The quarter final saw the team travel to Firhill Stadium for the match against Championship side Partick Thistle. After an early goal from Christophe Berra, the team dominated the game with 59% of the possession. The tie though headed into a replay after Christie Elliott scored to level the match in the 72nd minute.[8] The replay at Tyncastle Park saw the away team getting the opening goal in the 17th minute from a Scott McDonald tap to give the championship side the early lead. But a goal from Uche Ikpeazu and the penalty conversation from Sean Clare saw Hearts qualify for the semi-final.[9]
For Hearts, this meant a semi final with another Championship side in Inverness in the first of two matches at Hampden Park. After a lacklustre first half, Uche Ikpeazu broke deadlock for the Hearts in the 49th minute with the shot coming off a deflection. After Jamie McCart goal was deemed offside in the 61st minute, John Souttar doubled the lead only four minutes later. Sean Clare gave Hearts a 3-0 victory after Ikpeazu was brought down by Mark Ridgers to give a penalty which was converted.[10]
See also: 2018–19 Celtic F.C. season.
| -- | + Celtic --> | Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | 4th | Airdrieonians (H) | 3–0 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | 5th | St Johnstone (H) | 5–0 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | Quarter-final | Hibernian (A) | 2–0 | |
| scope=row style="text-align:center" | Semi-final | Aberdeen (N) | 3–0 |
In the fifth round, they took on fellow Premiership side, St Johnstone at home. In what was their third match against St Johnstone in twelve days, Celtic eased past their opponents 5–0 with Scott Sinclair scoring a hat-trick in the victory. Also getting on the score sheet was Scott Brown and James Forrest in what St Johnstone manager, Tommy Wright saying "that they were the better team".[12] [13]
The quarter finals had Celtic travel to Easter Road in Edinburgh to take on another Premiership side Hibernian. Before the game, they needed to change coaches with Brendan Rodgers leaving Celtic to join Leicester City on a three-year deal.[14] This meant that they hired Neil Lennon, who had recently left Hibernian, as intern manager for the rest of the season.[15] After there was no scoring in the first half, James Forrest opened the scoring in the 62nd minute from a 20 yard shot which was smashed into the net. Scott Brown extended the lead to two goals with another devastating strike to give Celtic the 2-0 win.[16] But the match wasn't without drama with a glass bottle almost hitting Scott Sinclair in the 57th minute while he was taking a corner which saw the behaviour of the fan club into question.[17]
This meant they took on Aberdeen in the second semi-final at Hampden Park. After Dominic Ball was reported for the second time which brought their opponents down to ten men, James Forrest fired the opening goal before half-time. Their second came from a penalty from Odsonne Édouard after Michael Devlin hand which the referee gave the penalty which was converted. Tom Rogic scored Celtic's third for the match after Lewis Ferguson was red-carded due to the two foot lunge that resulted in a free-kick which Rogic converted.[18]
Going into the 2019 final, Celtic had won the Scottish Cup 38 times from 57 appearances in the final.[19] The 2019 final is their third consecutive appearance in the final, having won the competition in 2017 and 2018.[19] Heart of Midlothian had won the Scottish Cup 8 times from 14 appearances in the final.[19] Their most recent victory and appearance in the final was in 2012.[19] The clubs had met in the finals of 1901 (a 4–3 win for Hearts), 1907 (3–0 for Celtic) and 1956 (3–1 for Hearts).[19]
Both clubs were allocated 20,200 tickets for the final, played at Hampden Park in Glasgow.[20]
After a goalless first half, Ryan Edwards gave Hearts the lead after 52 minutes with a left foot shot through the legs of the goalkeeper from ten yards out after the ball broke to him after a back heel pass from Sean Clare. Celtic were awarded a penalty after 62 minutes when Odsonne Édouard was fouled with Édouard scoring the penalty with a shot to left corner of the net with Zlámal getting a touch.[21] Celtic went in front in the 82nd minute when Édouard scored his second when he lifted the ball over the advancing Zlámal from the edge of the penalty area with his right foot after a header into his path from Mikael Lustig.[22]
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Match rules
BBC Scotland and Premier Sports gained the rights to host the final in what will be the first year of a six-year deal in the United Kingdom in hosting Scottish Cup matches from the fourth round onward.[23]
