© EuroFootball.com
On Saturday, it was a great day for Lithuanians playing in Scotland - goals from Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Česnauskis helped Edinburgh's "Hearts" team to break the resistance of "Partick Thistle" in fierce matches and reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. The best player of the match was the amazing goal scorer D. Česnauskis.
The lower league team "Partick Thistle" did not look like a very strong opponent, but "Hearts" coach Graham Rix understood the importance of this match and the team's goal to win trophies, and fielded the strongest lineup, which included both D. Česnauskis and E. Jankauskas. Saulius Mikoliūnas started the match on the bench, while injured N. Barasa was not registered.
The hosts pressed the opponents at the beginning of the match and broke through in the 10th minute when Paul Hartley passed the ball accurately to E. Jankauskas in the penalty area and the forward sent the ball into the goal with a header from about 8 meters.
Later on, the initiative was taken by the visitors, but the Lithuanian duo almost created a second goal - the very active D. Česnauskis made a perfect pass to E. Jankauskas, but this time he lacked a bit of accuracy and the headed ball flew completely wide of the goal.
After the break, the visitors continued to try to equalize, and in the 57th minute the "Hearts" team was saved by the fantastic saves of goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who, with his fingertips, deflected a shot from the wall rebounding off the bar.
It was a very important episode because six minutes later, thanks to D. Česnauskis' individual skill, the Edinburgh club doubled their lead - Lithuania's national team right-back broke into the penalty area and struck a magnificent goal with his left foot into the far corner of the goal, his first of the season.
In the 66th minute, Saulius Mikoliūnas came on for Rudi Skacel, but soon after that, "Hearts" found themselves in a complicated position as Roman Bednar, who had been playing for just 10 minutes, earned a second yellow card for a foul in the penalty area and was sent off the field.
With a numerical advantage, the visitors soon capitalized on it - taking advantage of the opponents' defensive passivity, Mark Roberts created an opportunity for a shot and sent the ball into the far corner of the goal, giving hope to the "Partick Thistle" team to save the game.
Soon after M. Roberts' pass, Darren Brady had a great chance to equalize, but his shot from a few meters flew high over C. Gordon's defended goal. As the visitors continued to attack relentlessly, "Hearts" had a chance to counter, and at the end of the match, after a pass from P. Hartley, S. Mikoliūnas had a good opportunity to become the third Lithuanian to score, but falling headfirst, the young defender shot just wide of the post.
The score remained unchanged until the end of the match, and the best player of the match was D. Česnauskis, who had torn apart the opponents' defense throughout the game. "Hearts" celebrated a hard-fought victory and secured a ticket to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, where they will meet the winner of one of the other quarter-final pairs.
In the other quarter-final matches, another Edinburgh club "Hibernian" won away against "Falkirk" with a score of 5-1, and a third division team "Gretna" narrowly defeated "St. Mirren". Meanwhile, the goalless match between "Hamilton" and "Dundee" will have to be replayed. The semi-final pairs of the cup will be determined in Monday's draw.
Scottish Cup quarter-final statistics:
"Hearts" 2 - 1 "Partick Thistle" 6` [1 - 0] Edgaras Jankauskas 63` [2 - 0] Deividas Česnauskis 75` [2 - 1] Mark Roberts 70` Roman Bednar ("Hearts") sent off the field "Falkirk" 1 - 5 "Hibernian" 9` [0 - 1] Derek Riordan 67` [0 - 2] Garry O`Connor 70` [1 - 2] Daniel McBreen 74` [1 - 3] Ivan Sproule 77` [1 - 4] Gary Caldwell 88` [1 - 5] Steven Fletcher "Gretna" 1 - 0 "St. Mirren" 73` [1 - 0] Kenny Deuchar "Hamilton" 0 - 0 "Dundee"
