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In the fourth round of the Scottish FA Cup matches on Saturday, crushing victories were achieved and only two Edinburgh clubs advanced to the next stage after the first matches - "Hibernian", Glasgow, unexpectedly convincingly once again defeating "Rangers", and "Hearts", at home demolishing the "Aberdeen" team.
After the duel in the third stage with "Celtic" last year, the cup fates were once again very unfavorable to the Scottish champion Glasgow "Rangers" this year, as they had to face the "Hibernian" team, which had already beaten them twice in the league this season - the match at "Ibrox" stadium even ended with a sensational away win 3-0.
This time history repeated itself - the Edinburgh club bounced back after the demolition in the city derby and once again defeated "Rangers" on their own pitch with a three-goal advantage. Despite the hosts' dominance in the first half, Gary O'Connor put the visitors ahead at the start of the second half, and Ivan Sproule doubled the lead in the 59th minute.
Chris Killen sealed the victory for the "Hibernian" team in the 78th minute. For the second year in a row, "Rangers" was forced to exit the cup early, and since another Glasgow giant "Celtic" was already eliminated in the previous stage, for the first time in 19 years, there will be no so-called "Old Firm" clubs in the quarterfinals.
The "Hearts" team confidently progressed to the next stage, with David Cesnauskis returning to the main lineup for the match against "Aberdeen", and new acquisitions defender Jose Goncalves and midfielder Mirsad Beslija receiving a debut opportunity, while Edgaras Jankauskas, Nerijus Barasa, and Saulius Mikoliunas could not play due to injuries.
In the 20th minute, Czech Michal Pospisil put the hosts ahead at "Tynecastle", sending the ball into the goal with a great shot after a pass from Callum Elliott, and in the 34th minute, Elliott himself scored a goal, taking advantage of a precise pass from D. Cesnauskis.
The active Lithuanian player soon created a chance for himself to score, but missed the target, which became irrelevant at the end of the first half, when the away team's defender Zander Diamond brought down M. Pospisil in the penalty area and was sent off the field. The team captain Steven Pressley took the 11-meter penalty, and his shot from the spot was accurate.
After the break, the "Aberdeen" players did not give up and tried to fight, but playing with ten men, they could not change the result. "Hearts" won and advanced to the quarterfinals, although the victory was somewhat marred by a record signing M. Beslija's injury - the Bosnian was forced to leave the field in the 82nd minute after a collision with an opponent.
All other cup matches held on Saturday ended in draws - even the "Premier" league clubs "Inverness CT" and "Falkirk" failed to win at home, so all quarterfinal participants will be determined only after playing additional matches. One fourth-round match will still be played tomorrow.
After drawing the quarterfinal matches, it was revealed that even two clubs from lower leagues will participate in the cup semifinals. This happened because "Hibernian" was paired with the winner of the "Falkirk" and "Ross County" pair, while "Hearts" will play against the winner of the "Inverness CT" and "Partick Thistle" duel.
Scottish FA Cup semi-final draw
"Clyde"/"Gretna" - "Spartans"/"St Mirren" "Hamilton"/"Alloa" - "Airdrie Utd"/"Dundee" "Falkirk"/"Ross County" - "Hibernian" "Hearts" - "Inverness CT"/"Partick Thistle"
