Hearts attack foiled as McManus pulls Celtic back from dead

Ewan Murray at Tynecastle
Monday January 2, 2006
The Guardian

If victory in this kind of match is indeed the mark of champions, the SPL could save many people a lot of time by delivering the trophy to Celtic Park as soon as possible.

This was the game that had everything - except perhaps Roy Keane, who was sitting in the stands and will not be eligible until next week. There was passion on and off the field - at times verging on vitriol - along with some breathtaking moments of skill and flowing football. Add in random bouts of off-the-ball wrestling and the result was a better advert for Scottish football than any marketing agency could ever dream up.

From Gordon Strachan's point of view, it was a match his team won after appearing dead and buried after only eight minutes' play.

The tone was set by comments in the match programme from Hearts' Lithuanian winger Saulius Mikoliunas over the treatment he was getting from referees after a recent sending off against Rangers. That sense of injustice was to fester further in Edinburgh's west end as this epic contest unfolded.

Tynecastle, of course, has a special atmosphere, an environment in which visiting teams have often struggled even against poor Hearts sides. Though the meeting of these two old rivals may register some way below the ferocity of an Old Firm derby, a particular welcome always awaits Celtic under the towering Tynecastle stands.

Inside six minutes of this match, and a breathtaking start from the home side that had maroon-clad supporters believing once again that their side could break the Old Firm's grip on the Scottish title, the old ground erupted as the Celtic midfielder Ross Wallace bundled the ball into his own net.

Two minutes later, those same fans were pinching themselves when the Hearts captain Steven Pressley doubled his side's advantage and appeared to bring the title chase well and truly alive again.

It took the somewhat harsh dismissal of the home side's Greek defender Takis Fyssas after 76 minutes to give fresh impetus to Celtic, who had already pulled a goal back through the substitute Stephen Pearson. Within minutes Strachan's side found an unlikely hero in the form of the young defender Stephen McManus, whose two very late goals snatched the victory that extended Celtic's lead over Hearts in the table to seven points.

"It may be that today we were the lucky ones in terms of a decision," admitted Strachan of that red card - and one that was not given earlier, to Hearts' consternation, to his defender Bobo Balde. "But we used that luck and turned it to our advantage."

That the visitors were no more than two goals behind after a pulsating opening half owed much to the form of their goalkeeper Artur Boruc. The Polish international, who rejected the advances of Arsenal to commit his long-term future to Celtic earlier in the season, twice made spectacular blocks from Rudi Skacel as Graham Rix's men sought to capitalise on the latest round of comedy defending from the hapless Balde.

The Guinea international, who will now head off for the African Nations Cup, was nowhere to be seen when a driven cross from Paul Hartley was turned past Boruc by the unfortunate Wallace with Edgar Jankauskas looming.

Pressley promptly made it 2-0 with a forceful header from Skacel's corner, though there was disappointment for the captain with a later booking then took him through the disciplinary points mark that means he will miss this month's derby with Hibs. At that point, though, it was one-way traffic for Hearts, but Boruc's brilliance saved Strachan's blushes and allowed the manager to reorganise his disjointed team during the interval.

The introduction of Pearson, who has endured a troublesome 12 months with injury, after 52 minutes represented just the lift Celtic needed, and the former Motherwell man was on hand to knock Shaun Maloney's cross past Craig Gordon three minutes later.

Fyssas's red card then turned the game and, it later transpired, led to Rix embarking on a frank exchange of views on the dismissal with the SPL delegate in attendance. Maloney was indeed clear of any other defenders when the Greek player slid in to attempt to dispossess him, but the youngster had knocked the ball well in front of him and, most pertinently, was running at an angle away from goal.

What perplexed Rix, and his players, was an apparent case of double standards from the referee Iain Brines, as Balde had cynically fouled the goal-bound Deividas Cesnauskis in the first half only to receive a booking for his troubles. "It was a similar situation, perhaps more central, and he only got a yellow" was all Rix was willing to say later. It would be hard to argue that Hearts did not have cause to be aggrieved.

Celtic's equaliser and subsequent winner, both the result of stunning free-kicks from Shunsuke Nakamura, were the result of McManus pushing forward to help an attack of John Hartson and Maloney who were rapidly running out of ideas. The 23-year-old's first goal, a bullet header, was in marked contrast with the winner, which was trundled home, but the scenes of jubilation in the visiting support were as wild for both.

Strachan has won praise for turning round Celtic from apparent no-hopers to odds-on favourites for the title, but his weekly sideshow with a fourth official is becoming tiresome, particularly on days like this. Unnecessary, too, were the childish antics of the Celtic club captain Neil Lennon, who almost prompted a riot with his full-time gestures to the home support.

The last word should lie with McManus, though. "I think that's the first time I scored two goals at senior level," he said. "I wouldn't say I took my second goal coolly - I'm honest enough to say when I fluke one in. I hit it off my studs, but as a defender you don't really care how they go in. You just have to cherish them because they don't happen that often."

Taken from the Guardian/Observer