Hearts debrief: The Toby Sibbick derby, lethal Lawrence Shankland, the Stephen Humphrys substitution

A look back at yesterday’s match at Easter Road as Hearts ran out 3-0 derby winners for the second time in succession.

Player of the match

“HE TURNED THE HIBEES DOWN… DOWN, DOWN, DOWN...”

Toby Sibbick. There were other impressive contenders in the Hearts defence. Zander Clark confidently dealt with every Hibs shot, James Hill excelled again, Kye Rowles was the strongest man in maroon in the first half, Stephen Kingsley helped shore things up, but none of them could ultimately hold a candle to Sibbick’s display. Aside from giving away a free-kick on the edge of the area he had a strong first half, which he then managed to improve upon significantly in the second period. He repelled everything that came into his vicinity, showed poise in possession, almost scored an incredible third with a terrific run, and ultimately managed to do it anyway to cap off a tremendous display.

Toby Sibbick, centre, leads the celebrations after full-time as Hearts defeat Hibs 3-0 in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup. Picture: SNS

Earlier in the season Sibbick couldn’t get into the team despite injuries meaning Robbie Neilson had to go with a defensive four who were all full-backs. Now he’s keeping Stephen Kingsley, arguably Hearts’ best outfield player last term, out of the starting XI. It’s been some turnaround.

Defining moment

Despite the 3-0 scoreline Hearts made hard work of things. They were too direct in the first half as they seemed to only be looking for long diagonals or balls in behind. They improved in terms of distribution following the restart but dropped deeper. However, when Lawrence Shankland rifled in an excellent finish for his 20th goal of the season you just knew this one was over.

It was the kind of moment which you just expect in derbies. Even though Hibs had the momentum, you still fancied Hearts to score the second out of nothing just as much (if not more) than the hosts equalising.

Ref watch

Don Robertson had the cards out early in this one. It was perhaps the wrong marker to set as he ultimately flashed what looked to be a very soft second yellow to Lawrence Shankland, which means Hearts’ top goalscorer will miss the next round. There were a couple of occasions where VAR checked incidents in the Hearts penalty box but none of them led to a review from the match official.

Benefit of hindsight

It’s hard to be too critical when Robbie Neilson picked the same team which won 5-0 in midweek and ultimately got the job done here. The Hearts boss made the right substitutions at the right times: Stephen Humphrys added some much-needed presence in attack and notched two assists; Jorge Grant provided some poise to the middle of the park in favour of the ineffective Barrie McKay; Stephen Kingsley managed to keep Elie Youan quiet after the winger gave Alex Cochrane a tough time, while even the lesser-seen-of-late Nathaniel Atkinson came on and put in a couple of big tackles.

Moment you may have missed

Michael Smith launched a mini-Mexican wave of anger in the East Stand during the first half as he stared down members of the home support as he walked casually up the wing following a throw-in to Hearts.

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