Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian
Saturday, 16 April 2022, kick off 12:15pm
Hampden Park

The first Semi-Final of the 2021/22 Scottish Cup takes place on Saturday, where Hearts and Hibernian will contest the second Edinburgh Derby in the space of a week, following Hearts 3-1 victory at Tynecastle last weekend.

Hearts go into the match on a high after that result, which secured a third place finish in the league and consigned their rivals to the bottom six.

Hibs will be hoping to avenge that result and reach a second consecutive Scottish Cup Final in process.

Cup Form

Hearts go into the match with the better historical record in the Scottish Cup, having lifted the trophy eight times compared to Hibernian’s three – but the Easter Road side boast the most recent triumph of the two, winning the cup in 2016.

Hibernian have also made an impressive habit of reaching the national stadium in recent seasons and this will be the sixth domestic competition that they have reached at least the semi-final, going back to 2019.

However, the last time these two sides met at this stage, it was Hearts who came out on top, with Liam Boyce’s penalty settling the match in extra time in 2020.

Neither team has had an easy route to this point. After seeing off Auchinleck Talbot 5-0, the Jambos needed penalties to get past Livingston, before overcoming St Mirren 4-2 in an entertaining encounter in the quarter-final.

The Hibees, meanwhile, came through two tough tests against lower league opposition in the form of Cove Rangers and Arbroath, before Elias Melkersen’s double helped them to a 2-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park in the last round to book their Hampden return.

Pre-match thoughts

Hearts’ Liam Boyce was the hero the last time the two sides met at this stage in 2020, but he also has not forgotten the pain of the penalty shoot out defeat to Celtic in the final in that season.

The matches were played behind closed doors, so the forward is relishing the prospect of Saturday’s atmosphere in front of a packed Hampden.

He said: “That’s the reason you play football. I thought last Saturday that the Hibs fans were good and obviously our fans gave a bit back and forward too. That’s what derbies are all about - you want to be involved and send people home happy.

"We still remember how we were two penalties away from winning the cup. It was heart-breaking at the time but we’ll use that as motivation to try and go one step further.

“When you play for a big club like Hearts, you need to win every game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a semi-final or the league games for the rest of the season – we want to win."

Hibernian manager Shaun Maloney believes this result can transform his side’s campaign and he has also backed Ryan Porteous, who returns from suspension for Saturday’s match.

He said: "We can change the narrative of our season and we can change the narrative of our rivals’ season - and they know that.

“Porteous has personality to go and win the game and in the last derby, his performance was as good a performance as any centre-back this season.

“He has a real desire not to get beat but also to show the best attributes he has. We need many of our players to show that this weekend and if they do that, it’ll give us a great opportunity to win this game.”  

Match Programme

Programmes for both semi-finals are available now through Ignition Sport Media.

To purchase your copy online, click here. 

Where to watch

The match will be shown live on Premier Sports and BBC One Scotland.