Hearts 1 Celtic 2

By Simon Buckland, PA Sport

Colin Cameron's disputed red card sent Hearts from a winning position to eventual defeat against Celtic at Tynecastle as a dramatic late flurry set up an unlikely victory.

The Edinburgh outfit stunned Celtic after only three minutes by exposing a makeshift defence for Cameron to tap in and the visitors were finding themselves outplayed.

But after 59 minutes Cameron clashed off the ball with Johan Mjallby to be instantly dismissed - and with him went Hearts' superiority once they were reduced to 10 men.

On 71 minutes, Celtic were able to draw level when Ian Wright found room on the edge of the area to slot the ball beyond the reach of keeper Gilles Rousset via a deflection.

Celtic were still not creating enough chances, but victory was secured regardless courtesy of an astonishing 25-yard individual effort from Lubomir Moravcik worthy of winning any game.

Head coach John Barnes had been forced into a series of changes with Mark Viduka, Paul Lambert and Craig Burley all missing means rare starts for Mark Burchill and Stilian Petrov.

Stephane Mahe returned for the first time in more than two months after recovering from injury, while Jonathan Gould retained his place in goal with Dmitri Kharine unwell.

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies dropped former Parkhead midfielder Darren Jackson with Rob McKinnon earning a surprise recall while Scotland forward Gary McSwegan was passed fit.

Celtic were almost gifted the lead after 40 seconds when a weak Gary Naysmith back-pass played in Burchill, but Rousset saved the youngster's snap shot with his legs.

That miss was punished on just three minutes when McSwegan was given time and space on the right to measure a low cross which Cameron converted from close range to put Hearts ahead.

The goal exposed Celtic's reorganised central defence which had utility man Vidar Riseth replacing Olivier Tebily who is on international duty with the Ivory Coast.

After eight minutes, Hearts almost doubled their lead when after being tripped by Alan Stubbs, Stevie Fulton's free-kick was flicked wide by the head of McSwegan.

Hearts, lifted by their early strike, continued to cause Celtic major problems, Austrian Thomas Flogel firing an angled drive narrowly wide of the mark.

A misplaced pass from the shaky Riseth then let in McSwegan again and after Mjallby failed to clear, Cameron had a fierce effort charged down as the home team surged forward.

Another Riseth mistake let McKinnon in for a shooting chance after 23 minutes but he snatched at the chance sending the ball well wide of Gould in the Celtic goal.

Gould kept Celtic in touch after 27 minutes with a fine save to his right after McSwegan seized on more hesitant play in the Celtic backline with a sharp effort on the turn.

A clever exchange of passes with Berkovic let in Lubomir Moravcik on the half-hour mark but despite being well-placed he failed to get hold of his shot and Rousset saved with ease.

Gould was again the Celtic saviour on 38 minutes when Cameron's neat pass set up Flogel only for the visiting keeper to produce a stunning one-handed save.

Celtic tempers were fraying, firstly Mjallby was booked for crashing into McKinnon then Petrov was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Scott Severin.

In an increasingly stormy match, Flogel was booked for a late lunge at Jackie McNamara and in the aftermath Berkovic was also cautioned for his protests.

Worse was to follow for Hearts on 59 minutes when goalscorer Cameron was red-carded in an off-the-ball incident with Mjallby spotted by referee Mike McCurry.

Celtic now had a man advantage and should have levelled after 64 minutes when Mahe's cross picked out Burchill at the near post, but he headed over from close range.

Fuming Hearts boss Jefferies was then spoken to by McCurry for speaking out of turn on the touchline as the game became increasingly frenetic from both teams.

Rousset again stopped Burchill from netting on 70 minutes after a clever reverse pass from McNamara, while Flogel fired wide for Hearts from 25 yards.

Celtic finally levelled after 71 minutes when the ball broke to Wright at the edge of the area and his powerful strike took a slight deflection to defeat Rousset.

Burchill continued to be wasteful for Celtic, Berkovic putting him clear on Rousset after 73 minutes only for the eventual shot to be hit too close to the Frenchman.

Celtic withdrew Wright late on to allow Harald Brattbakk, but Hearts still posed a threat, McKinnon's cross drifting goalwards until tipped over by Gould.

Then in the 89th minute Celtic's comeback was complete, Moravcik cutting inside with purpose and producing a magnificent long range strike to steal the points at the last in style.

Teams:

Hearts: Rousset, Locke, Pressley, Ritchie, Naysmith, Flogel, Cameron, Severin (Leclercq 57), Fulton, McKinnon, McSwegan (Jackson 80).

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Makel, Juanjo.

Sent Off: Cameron (58).

Booked: Severin, Flogel, Fulton.

Goals: Cameron 3.

Celtic: Gould, McNamara, Riseth, Stubbs, Mahe, Mjallby, Petrov, Berkovic, Moravcik, Wright (Brattbakk 85), Burchill.

Subs Not Used: Kerr, Petta, Blinker, Wieghorst.

Booked: Stubbs, Mjallby, Petrov, Berkovic.

Goals: Wright 71, Moravcik 88.

Att: 17,184

Ref: Michael McCurry (Scotland).


Taken from sportinglife.com