MAN BY MAN

Dec 27 2004

Compiled By Anthony Haggerty

HEARTS Craig Gordon

6 Left in no man's land for McGeady goal and had no chance with Petrov's. Alan Maybury 7 No frills, no-nonsense defender was one of the few Hearts successes.

Steven Pressley 7 Badly missed Andy Webster. Involved in fantastic physical contest with Sutton and Harston.

Kevin McKenna 6 Used in central defence where his limited ability on ground was exposed. Dennis Wyness 5 Unproductive in the final third and second to too many loose balls.

Phil Stamp 7 Welcome return to first-team action for Englishman. Looks a lot fitter.

Mark de Vries 6 Needed better service from midfield. Correctly booked for diving.

Paul Hartley 6 Ended up dropping too deep and distribution was poor but probed away. Robbie Neilson 5 Posted missing at the back post as McGeady rammed home. Pinned back for long periods.

Jamie McAllister 6 Fired in wicked low free-kick that nearly brought equaliser Michael Stewart 2 Lasted just 12 minutes before limping off.

Substitutes - Neil MacFarlane: Slotted in to try to shore up midfield in Stewart's absence - 6. Joe Hamill: Replaced the ineffective Wyness after 56 minutes - 5. Graham Weir: Came on for McAllister after 73 minutes - 3.

CELTIC Rab Douglas 7 Surprise inclusion made superb save from McAllister free-kick. Handling confident throughout.

Jackie McNamara 7 Good all-round performance. Helped set up McGeady for opening goal.

Bobo Balde 7 Hardly gave de Vries a sniff of goal. Slashed good first-half chance well wide.

Alan Thompson 7 Saw a lot of the ball, continually setting up attacks.

Chris Sutton 8 Hit side netting with first-half effort. Threw himself around all afternoon like a big target man should.

John Hartson 6 Missed sitters in both halves. Booked for persistent fouling.

Ulrik Laursen 6 Handed first start since May 2003.Kept it tidy and simple.

Neil Lennon 7 Put in one superb blocking tackle as de Vries got set to pull the trigger.

Steady and solid.

Stilian Petrov 9 Brilliant performance. Penetrative run and drive across goal led to opener. Scored magnificent second.

Stanislav Varga 7 Coped extremely well with de Vries. Always looked comfortable.

Aiden McGeady 6 Bagged important early goal but didn't dazzle as much as he has in recent weeks.

Taken from the Daily Record