Hearts 4-0 Partick Thistle: Tynecastle side through to Viaplay Cup quarter-finals
- Published
Brian Graham's early own goal set Hearts on their way to the quarter-finals
Hearts safely secured a Viaplay Cup quarter-final at Kilmarnock after a comfortable victory against Championship side Partick Thistle.
A Brian Graham own goal and a powerful header by debutant Odel Offiah had the hosts two ahead at the break, as Hearts showed no signs of fatigue despite their midweek European exploits.
Lawrence Shankland scored the third early in the second half before Kyosuke Tagawa came off the bench to slam home his first goal for the club.
Kris Doolan's side offered very little and failed to truly trouble the Hearts goal.
Technical director Steven Naismith spoke pre-match of the impact the crammed calendar can have on a squad, but also highlighted his pleasure at being able to make six changes from the side that overcame Rosenborg midweek.
Despite the change in personnel, Hearts started where they left off against the Norwegians with high intensity.
The hosts were dominating when Kye Rowles escaped the attention of his marker as Alex Lowry swung a corner in from the right-hand side. The defenders header was heading wide before Thistle captain Graham deflected into his own net.
Thistle received little respite throughout the afternoon but did grow into the game a little, coming closest with Harry Milne's strike that floated a yard over Zander Clark's goal.
It appeared they were heading into the break just one goal down, but on the stroke of half-time, on-loan Brighton and Hove Albion defender Offiah cannoned his header off the underside of the bar before it crossed the line.
The tie was over three minutes into the second half as Aaron Muirhead's slackness was capitalised on by Shankland, who slipped in his fourth of the season, before Tagawa netted in his first for Hearts to round the afternoon off.
Player of the match - Alex Lowry
Although he wasn't able to get on the scoresheet, Alex Lowry was the star of the show. The 20-year-old has every trick in the book and was key to everything that was good about Hearts
What they said
Hearts technical director Steven Naismith: "These games can be difficult after midweek but we were really good.
"Some of the newer players that have come in have had to wait for their moments but they're learning every day and, in spells, you could see that. It's a really pleasing day."
Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan: "We hate losing goals, but we made mistakes, our own mistakes. It's a tough one to take.
"We didn't create anything today, we were chasing the game."