Sander Kartum scored a magnificent double as Hearts defeated struggling William Hill Premiership rivals Dundee 3-1 at Tynecastle to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the fifth time in seven seasons.
The Norwegian midfielder gave the Jambos a 1-0 interval lead with his first goal since arriving from Brann in January before the Dark Blues levelled five minutes after the break through captain Joe Shaugnessy.
But the Edinburgh side regained command through an own goal from Simon Murray and a second of the night from Kartum as Dundee’s pursuit of a first Scottish Cup triumph since 1910 was extended into a 116th year.
Hearts boss Neil Critchley made four changes to the side that started Sunday’s Edinburgh Derby defeat at Hibernian, with Adam Forrester, Lewis Neilson, Kartum and Kenneth Vargas all added as the injured Jamie McCart dropped out along with Gerald Taylor, Jorge Grant and James Wilson.
Dundee boss Tony Docherty switched from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 and made two personnel changes to the team that drew 1-1 at home to St Johnstone, as Mo Sylla and the suspended Lyall Cameron were replaced by Ryan Astley and Fin Robertson.
Hearts – chasing Scottish Cup glory for the first time since 2012 – went close in the third minutes when Vargas fired a ferocious strike from the left just beyond the far post after Kartum had switched the ball as the hosts broke following a Dundee corner.
The visitors, thrashed 6-0 by Hearts last month and struggling in the league, were competitive in the early stages and Murray threatened in the 14th minute when he cut in from the left and saw a low shot gathered by Craig Gordon.
But the Jambos made the breakthrough in the 27th minute when Kartum curled a sublime shot into Trevor Carson’s top right-hand corner after being teed up on the edge of the ‘D’ following good work by Lawrence Shankland and Blair Spittal.
Shankland had a lobbed effort ruled out 10 minutes later for offside against team-mate Elton Kabangu before Dundee attacker Seun Adewumi hit the bar in the last action of the first half after getting in behind the home defence.
The Dark Blues made a change for the start of the second half as Sylla replaced Jordan McGhee, but the hosts almost doubled their lead three minutes after the restart when Kartum curled just over from similar range to his goal.
The visitors drew level in the 50th minute when Shaughnessy, who recently returned from 10 months out injured, powered home a close-range header following a brilliant cross from the left by Ziyad Larkeche.
Hearts regained the initiative with a degree of fortune in the 63rd minute when Spittal’s driven free-kick from the left was inadvertently glanced into his own net by the head of Murray.
And four minutes later, the Edinburgh side were in full control when Shankland fed Kartum, who spun away from Robertson and drove into the box before flicking an exquisite finish with outside of his left foot low beyond Carson from 16 yards out.
