Motherwell 2-1 Heart of Midlothian

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Highlights: Motherwell 2-1 Heart of Midlothian

Carl McHugh scored a wonder-goal to seal Motherwell's spot in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Well's Curtis Main touched in the opener on the goal-line after Hearts' Ross Callachan inexplicably let Craig Tanner's corner go through him.

Kyle Lafferty smashed home a penalty to restore parity after Cedric Kipre downed Steven Naismith in the box.

But with minutes to play, McHugh brilliantly controlled on his chest and crashed in a superb volley to win it.

The Steelmen join Celtic in the last four, with Aberdeen and Kilmarnock replaying next week and Rangers hosting Falkirk later on Sunday.

The home side looked hungry from the off at Fir Park and thought they had scored within three minutes.

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Curtis Main got a final touch for the first goal after comical defending from Hearts' Ross Callachan

Hearts keeper Jon McLaughlin fumbled a cross and Chris Cadden reacted quickly to knock the ball home, only to be left furious when referee Andrew Dallas ruled it out.

Despite the protests of the hosts, pictures showed that McLaughlin had one hand on the ball and that Dallas had got it right.

Before too long the home side were in front.

Callachan made a woeful decision to allow a near-post corner to pass him and a shocked McLaughlin could only shin the ball on to the post, with Main on the line to finish.

Cheered on by around 4700 fans who had made their way along the M8, Hearts slowly eased their way back into the match.

Lafferty had a shot saved by keeper Trevor Carson, while at the other end Craig Tanner blasted an effort high over the bar.

Jambos boss Craig Levein replaced the ineffective Callachan with David Milinkovic at half-time, allowing Naismith to provide some much-needed support to Lafferty up top.

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Chris Cadden thought he had opened the scoring but referee Andrew Dallas ruled it out for a foul

The change had an immediate impact when the Tynecastle club equalised six minutes into the second period.

As Naismith looked to connect with a through ball inside the Motherwell box, Kipre clumsily brought him down.

There were few complaints from the home side and Lafferty, who had a spot kick saved by Jamie MacDonald in the midweek draw with Kilmarnock, hammered home his 16th goal of the season.

Confidence was flowing through the Hearts side and Naismith and Lafferty soon combined to set up the latter for a shot that hit keeper Carson's right hand post.

It was persistent pressure from Hearts and only a fantastic fingertip save by Carson from a Lafferty header denied the Tynecastle side the lead.

Well's Tanner then had a volley blocked by John Souttar before McHugh also had an effort stopped on its way to goal.

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Kyle Lafferty drew Hearts level with a well-taken penalty

It looked like a replay was inevitable until McHugh produced a moment of magic, controlling the ball on his chest and firing an effort into the top corner from 20 yards.

The Steelmen's skipper had been booked earlier, meaning he will miss the semi-final, but that did not dampen the celebrations.

In the final minute Hearts had claims for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Tom Aldred, but referee Dallas waved away the claims.

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