Airdrie 1, Hearts 4: Shankland the hero as Hearts ease through to quarter-finals

Hearts eased their way through to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with a comfortable win over Airdrie at New Broomfield.

Goals from Lawrence Shankland, Kenneth Vargas and Calem Nieuwenhof had Hearts home and dry midway through the first half, and they will progress to face another Championship side in Morton at Cappielow in the quarter-finals, who ousted Motherwell on Friday night.

Airdrie captain Adam Frizzell pulled a goal back just after the half-hour, but Hearts were still firmly in command of the tie and added a late fourth through Shankland.

Airdrie and Hearts have served up some cup crackers over the decades, but the Tynecastle giants just got the job done, taking the lead in 11 minutes and simply not looking back.

Shankland had Hearts on their way in 11 minutes, then Hearts scored twice in three minutes through Vargas and Nieuwenhof to ensure their passage.

Frizzell gave Airdrie hope going into the interval, but Shankland put the seal on a good win in 73 minutes.

Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe made one change to the side that beat Raith Rovers 1-0 in the SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final, with Arron Lyall in for Liam McStravick.

Hearts boss Steven Naismith made three changes to his line-up that beat St Johnstone 1-0 on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon replaced Zander Clark, and Craig Halkett and Jorge Grant came in for Frankie Kent and Scott Fraser, all three of whom were on the bench.

Hearts took the lead in 11 minutes when a sweeping move through the centre resulted in Alex Cochrane's cutback from the left being slammed into the net by Shankland.

Airdrie went close in 17 minutes when Charlie Telfer's cross from the left bounced around the box before Nikolay Todorov hit the bar with a header, then fired the rebound just