Hearts suffered Hampden heartbreak on Sunday as Celtic won the Scottish Cup final, beating the Jambos 4-3 on penalty kicks after a pulsating 3-3 draw.
The game looked done and dusted inside 30 minutes when Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard put Celtic two goals ahead. But Robbie Neilson’s men fought back to take it to extra-time, Liam Boyce and Stephen Kinglsey the scorers.
Leigh Griffiths scored in the final 30 minutes to make it 3-2 before Josh Ginnelly sent the match to penalties, where a painful 4-3 defeat on spot kicks was had.
Celtic sealed the quadruple treble at the expense of Hearts’ agony, the Jambos doing themselves no harm against Premiership opposition. Former pro and pundit Murdo MacLeod reckons Hearts were unlucky, Celtic perhaps fortunate to take the trophy.
“What an achievement it is from Celtic – it’s fantastic,” said MacLeod (Sky). “But when you look at the performance on Sunday, the achievement was a lot greater.
“When you have guys in the box at 6ft 5in and they can’t win headers, there is a problem. Every ball Hearts put into the box caused problems for Celtic. For me, Celtic ended up fairly lucky coming away with the cup.
“All credit to Hearts. They came back and won all the battles in the second half. It went to extra-time, then 3-3 and then penalties. You thought, ‘There’s a chance here for Hearts’.
“Sadly for them it never happened.”
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