Brave Hearts Unlucky

It may seem strange saying this about a team that's now 20 points behind leaders Celtic, but all the way through this season I've thought that Hearts are a better team. It's just a shame that so much nonsense has gone on behind the scenes at Tynecastle this season because yet again on the evidence of tonight, it was obvious for all to see that they more than matched their hosts. But for the obligatory shocking refereeing decision, they would have taken at least a point here.

Interim manager Ivanauskas dropped Rudi Skacel to the bench after a series of indifferent performances from the Czech and instead he gave Saulius Mikoliunas his chance on the left wing. This was completely justified. Back came Julien Brellier and Roman Bednar to the starting line-up at the expense of Bruno Aguiar and Calum Elliot respectively. Christophe Berra replaced the injured Steven Pressley in defence and Takis Fyssas started at left-back.

Celtic welcomed back John Hartson and Bobo Balde to their starting line-up and within four minutes the former had given them a dream start. A long ball over the top was flicked on by Zurawski and Hartson smashed a fierce volley from fully 30 yards across Craig Gordon and into the far corner of the net. Gordon's positioning was poor and it may be harsh, but I think he has to take the blame for the goal - if he'd been in the proper position it wouldn't have been a problem for him to save it. However full marks to Hartson for taking it early and the execution was perfect. 1-0 Celtic and the league title was looking imminent.

Normally when teams go a goal down early at venues like Parkhead they tend to capitulate but much to the frustration of the green and white masses, Hearts dominated the rest of the first half. It would be true to say that for all their possession, Hearts rarely created clear cut chances, but they still had their share of opportunities, Roman Bednar in particular. The Czech somehow managed to find space in the box to turn and shoot in one movement and Boruc got down smartly to claw it away at full stretch, with Webster arriving just too late to put away the rebound. It was Webster who was next to go close with a dipping shot from the edge of box that skimmed the top of the net.

Hearts continued to play a nice passing game and Celtic were being forced into committing foul after foul and much to the home support's disgust, referee Dougie McDonald was having the audacity to actually award free-kicks for most of them! What he failed to do however, was punish Neil Lennon for consistently abusing the official after literally every decision given against Celtic. This is something that this man gets away with every week and frankly, it's about time something was done about it. Fat chance, sadly.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first had ended, with Hearts enjoying the bulk of the possession and the game being broken up by several free-kicks.

Edgaras Jankauskas took a bad head knock after being sandwiched between Petrov and Balde (not something to be envied!) and eventually had to be subbed after failing to recover sufficiently. What is it about head knocks and Hearts players at the moment?! Michal Pospisil came on as his replacement and made an immediate impact: his lovely through ball played in Bednar, whose shot again had Boruc scrambling at full stretch to keep it out. Brellier followed it in but Celtic managed to clear just before the Frenchman could get there.

Hearts then had a goal disallowed for offside when Andy Webster latched onto a flick-on from a long ball and volleyed home, but it was clearly the correct decision and there were no complaints from the Hearts defender.

Celtic came back into the game as Hearts committed more men forward in search of an equaliser, but like the visitors in the first half they were finding it difficult creating anything clear cut. The closest they came was when a poor clearance by Robbie Neilson fell kindly for Bobo Balde inside the box, but he mishit his shot straight at Gordon.

Hearts threw on Skacel for Mikoliunas and Elliot for the booked Brellier and it was basically gung-ho for the last 20 minutes or so. Skacel almost scored with his first touch of the ball, a surging run forward from deep ended with a shot that wasn't the cleanest he's ever hit, but was enough to trouble Boruc who couldn't hold it. However the ever-alert Celtic defence managed to clear.

Things were looking increasingly desperate for Hearts, but with ten minutes to go they were denied a stonewall penalty after Balde kicked Bednar in the chest (yes the chest!). Running in on the blind side of Balde, Bednar got himself between the Celtic man and the ball and Balde took a swipe at what he thought was ball and took Bednar right out of the play instead. Clear as day. But this is Parkhead. No penalty was given and no booking to Bednar for diving. So...what exactly did the officials see then? Infuriating, but we're used to this....just think back to New Year's Day and Fyssas' red card. Paranoid? Absolutely!

The last five minutes resembled a school football match, with Hearts throwing everyone forward and mass scrambles taking place in and around the Celtic penalty area. Michal Pospisil had a great chance to level in injury time from Cesnauskas' cross, but he fired wide after snatching at the chance. Bobo Balde also had to header a volley off the line after another penalty box 'strumash'!

So Celtic ran out 1-0 winners and won the championship. Congratulations to them on their achievement, but Hearts should feel very proud of their performance tonight. If they can play like that for the remainder of the season they should be able to hold on to second place without question. That's a big 'if' though......let's face it, it's very difficult to predict anything down Tynecastle way these days!
Star Player
On a night when no individual clearly stood out, I'd give this award to Roman Bednar, who never gave the Celtic defence a moment's peace all night, came close to scoring on three occasions and should have won a penalty.
Player Ratings
Gordon 5
Badly positioned for Hartson's goal but apart from that had very little to do.
Neilson 5
Got up and down the flank well but hit a few poor passes that put the likes of Cesnauskas and Hartley under pressure.
Fyssas 7
If it hadn't been for a ten minute spell in the second half when he hit some horrendous passes he'd have been man of the match by a mile. Bounced back from that though to end the game strongly, showing great skill and determination throughout.
Berra 7
Shaky opening few minutes during which Hartson scored, but recovered well to produce a solid 90 minutes.
Webster 8
Exemplary display in the absence of Pressley. Commanding in the air, composed with the ball and a threat when forward at set-pieces.
Brellier 7
Helped Hearts retain possession for long spells and won some cracking tackles. Not helped by referee.
Hartley 6
A quiet game by his standards, but we'll allow him that after Sunday! Still hit some lovely crossfield passes but didn't break beyond the strikers often, if at all.
Cesnauskas 7
A constant threat on either wing and always looked the most likely source to supply an equaliser. Set up Pospisil for late chance. Long range shooting was woeful though!
Mikoliunas 6
Had an excellent first half but faded in the second. Good to see him back playing well though - he's always had ability and I think there's more to come from him.
Jankauskas 7
Was holding the ball up and retaining possession brilliantly until he had to go off with a head injury.
Bednar 8
Constant threat. Unlucky not to score twice and should have had a penalty.
Pospisil 4
Looked lively and set up Bednar for good chance. Snatched a bit at good late chance though.
Pospisil 4
Looked lively and set up Bednar for good chance. Snatched a bit at good late chance though.
Skacel 3
Nearly scored with long range shot, but other than that did nothing and looked a bit short of pace.
Elliot 2
Only on for ten minutes or so and was ridiculously booked. Anyone know why?