Heart of Midlothian 6-2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
C. Borchgrevink R. Mato C. Miller J. Wilson Cláudio Braga
R. Duncan A. Bavidge
Calvin Miller scored a second half double as Hearts hit Inverness for six to progress to the Scottish League Cup Quarter Final in an entertaining Tynecastle tussle.
Inverness looked to have made the perfect start when Alfie Bavidge turned home Alfie Stewart’s cutback from a corner kick. But unfortunately for the visitors, VAR ruled the attacker offside, keeping the scores level.
Despite the disallowed goal, Caley had settled well in the opening 15 minutes, keen to carry on their League Cup momentum after topping group F.
The Jambos were fresh from their confidence-boosting 1-1 draw against European giants Benfica, and eventually steadied the ship to take the lead.
Amadou Ba-Sy seemed to draw contact in the box, and referee Calum Scott pointed to the spot, only for VAR to correctly intervene and award a free kick right on the edge of the penalty area.
Hearts moved ahead from the resultant set piece in the 16th minute. Sabah Kerjota’s deflected effort dropped into the path of Christian Borchgrevink, whose looping header sailed over the stranded Ross Munro and into the net.
It was a gut punch for the visitors, but a lift for the hosts, who started to enjoy the better chances in an uneventful first period
Hearts scored 23 goals from set piece situations last season, and a flowing routine saw a ball fizzed to the unmarked Calvin Miller on the edge of the box. The former Falkirk winger was unable to make a strong connection, and the opportunity petered out in the 25th minute.
Sabah Kerjota found space in the box to meet Amadou By-Sy’s low cross on the half-hour mark, but the Albanian crashed his effort off the crossbar when it looked easier to score from 10 yards.
Adam MacKinnon did flash over from the edge of the box as the halftime whistle approached for the visitors, but Beau Reus was yet to be fully troubled between the sticks
Scott Kellacher’s 80% unbeaten record as Inverness manager was on course to take a hit, but with only a slender deficit, Caley were right in the game at the break.
The hosts started strongly in the second half, keen to put the tie beyond the Championship side. Tom Renaud’s 25-yard strike whistled into the side netting, before a left-footed Kerjota effort whistled over.
But with a narrow advantage, Thistle only needed to click one time, and they delivered in the 54th minute. A simple long ball from Danny Devine dropped for Ryan Duncan, who had acres of space to control and finish high past Reus with his left foot.
Inverness took a stunning lead three minutes after. Stewart broke from a Hearts attack, and slipped a through ball behind Stuart Findlay for Bavidge to chase. The youngster rounded Reus to slot home and send the away allocation into a frenzy.
After an extraordinary turnaround, the home support demanded better from their team, who had let their advantage slip in the blink of an eye. Rogers Mato rounded off a bonkers six-minute spell with a close-range header from Kerjota’s right-hand cross.
Wrancken turned to his bench on the hour mark, introducing Claudio Braga and Josh McPake in an attempt to find a crucial third goal. The pair linked up moments later, with McPake cutting on his right foot and forcing a goalmouth scramble from the Caley defence.
Hearts rounded off the comeback with nine minutes to play in the second half. Noa Butin brought down Kerjota in the box after a clever link-up with Blair Spittal. Calvin Miller held his nerve from the resultant spot kick, drilling high into the top left corner past Munro.
James Wilson, Braga, and Miller added gloss to the victory in the final five minutes as Hearts hit the visitors for six. Tynecastle exhaled a collective sigh of relief, and the hosts return to action in Conference League qualifying against Rapid Vienna on Thursday.
Hearts: Reus 7 Borchgrevink 8 McCart 7 Findlay 7 Miller 9 Renaud 8 Magnusson 7 Mato 7 Guendouz 7 Kerjota 9 Ba-Sy 5
Substitutes: Spittal 8 Braga 8 Wilson 8 McPake 7 Dhanda 5
Inverness: Munro 5 MacLeod 6 Boutin 5 Devine 5 Savage 4 MacKinnon 5 Shinnie 6 Duncan 6 Bavidge 7 Allan 6 Stewart 7
Substitutes: Sole 5 Bates 5 Longstaff 5 Kargbo 5 MacGregor 4