Hearts v Celtic: Scottish Cup final – live!

Heart of Midlothian and Celtic last met each other in the Scottish Cup final 63 years ago. Celtic sent out an unfamiliar team at Hampden Park that day in April 1956, without the injured Jock Stein and Bobby Collins. Hearts by contrast were in fine fettle, and could name the famous attacking Terrible Trio of Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh, plus Dave Mackay at the back, middle and everywhere, and the Golden Vision of Alex Young on the wing. They ran out easy 3-1 winners, Ian Crawford scoring two and Conn the third, and were paraded around Edinburgh on an open-top Scottish Omnibus emblazoned with the bespoke logo Hearts Are Trumps.

And Hearts were trumps back then. The 1956 Scottish Cup win came at the start of a golden age during the late fifties and early sixties in which the Jambos won the League twice, came runner up twice, and lifted the League Cup on four occasions.

But times change, and it’s Celtic who always produce the winning card these days. Since Hibs pipped Rangers to win their first Scottish Cup in 114 years back in 2016, Celtic have won every single major domestic honour available. That’s eight on the bounce. If today they become the first side to win three consecutive Scottish Cups since Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen pulled it off during their eighties pomp, they’ll win their third domestic treble in a row. This is unprecedented behaviour. Record-obliterating. Homeric.

By their own recent standards, Celtic haven’t been playing that well of late. Goalless draws with Livingston and Hibs, narrow victories over Kilmarnock and today’s opponents Hearts, and a no-show at Ibrox. But in the main they’ve still been getting results. They still wrapped up the league, they’re still the best team in Scotland, they’ve still only lost once in 14 matches, and they go into this final as hot favourites.

Hearts by contrast are on a run of five without a win, losing the last three of their league campaign. A sixth-place finish in the league wasn’t what Tynecastle was dreaming of when they topped the Premiership in the first few months of the season. And they’ve lost four times to Celtic since beating them at home way back in August, a run that includes a 3-0 loss in the League Cup semi at Hampden. Still, an early-season win is a win is a win, and Hearts will hope their physicality can disrupt Celtic’s flow once again.

Will Celtic seal the Treble Treble? Or can Hearts make their life a mess by taking the Scottish Cup back to Tynecastle for the first time since thrashing Hibs 5-1 in 2012? We’re about to find out. It’s the 134th Scottish Cup final! It’s on!

Kick off: 3pm BST, with extra time and penalties to come if necessary.

source: theguardian.com