Hearts vs Celtic. Scottish Cup Final.
Hampden ParkAttendance49,434.
Sunday 26 May 2019 09:15, UK
Odsonne Edouard's double secured a historic treble treble for Celtic with a 2-1 comeback win over Hearts in the Scottish Cup final.
An underwhelming performance could not overshadow a famous day for Neil Lennon's side, with Edouard taking advantage of Christophe Berra's poor positioning eight minutes from time to race through and fire high past Zdenek Zlamal.
On a wet day at Hampden Park, Hearts had briefly looked like putting a dampener on Celtic's hopes of making history, limiting them to a limp first-half performance and taking the lead seven minutes after the break when Ryan Edwards slotted through Scott Bain's legs.
But they would lead for only nine minutes. Poor communication between Zlamal and Berra allowed Edouard to reach a threaded ball forward and the Frenchman was taken out by the Hearts goalkeeper, before picking himself up to level from the penalty spot.
Despite a spirited attempt from the underdogs, Edouard's 23rd goal of an impressive season at Celtic Park late on extinguished any hope of a first Scottish Cup win for Hearts since 2012, putting Lennon and his men in the history books.
Celtic staggered out of the blocks on one of the biggest days in their history, given the accolades at stake, and mustered little more than an Edouard angled effort on the turn before half-time, and even that was blocked by John Souttar with relative ease.
Perhaps it was a case of nerves with a place in folklore at stake, but Hearts' strong performance played a major part too. They mounted most of the pressure before the break without causing Bain too many difficult moments, and only a long-range Aaron Hickey effort forced any kind of meaningful save out of the Celtic goalkeeper.
Lennon trudged down the tunnel at the break looking furious but whatever he said at the break did little to change the momentum, and if anything Hearts improved from the restart.
They finally added a clinical touch to their fine showing seven minutes into the second period, when Arnaud Djoum's shot from a throw-in was backheeled into Edwards' path, and the Austrailan, who started only two league games for Hearts all season and spent the first half of the campaign on loan at St Mirren, slotted them in front.
Celtic were not immediately sprung into life but they were more than happy to take advantage of a horrible miscommunication in the Hearts defence to level, when neither Zlamal nor Berra fully committed to chasing down a through-ball from midfield, and when Edouard met it he was clumsily taken down by the goalkeeper.
After picking himself up he just beat Zlamal, who got a hand to his penalty as it sneaked under his glove, to level the scores.
Lennon's substitutions, bringing on Scott Sinclair and Olivier Ntcham, finally turned the game in their favour - it was their £9m Frenchman who would be their saviour to seal their historic treble, however.
Berra was again out of position, caught ahead of the rest of the Hearts back four when a clearing header from the Celtic defence left him exposed, and Edouard raced through before beating Zlamal with a rising effort nine minutes from time, to give them a lead they would hold with ease.
Former Scotland and Rangers striker James McFadden told Sky Sports News after full-time: "Hearts gave it their all, and just fell short. But Celtic did what they do best - winning games when they had to.
"I can't sum up what an achievement. To win three trebles in a row is incredible. There's teams who dominated through eras; Celtic did it in the 1960s and 70s, they won nine league titles in a row, but they didn't win three trebles.
"Rangers in the 90s, they didn't do it either. To have the level of consistency, this has been deemed as a poor season for Celtic. They've had to grind results out, it's not been pretty at times, but they've done it, they've shown why they've won three this season.
"Before this season, everyone was saying Celtic are favourites for the treble but it's easier said than done. I don't think we'll fully appreciate it for years to come."
