Hartley keeps Hearts on a high with Euro hopes on the horizon

Ewan Murray at Tynecastle
Monday May 1, 2006
The Guardian

Hearts are 90 minutes away from securing a place in the Champions League qualifying round for the first time, after a comprehensive victory over the Scottish Premierleague champions Celtic.

A home win over Aberdeen on Wednesday night will ensure Hearts finish the season as the SPL's second-placed side, and even that will be unnecessary if Rangers fail to beat Hibernian at Easter Road tomorrow.

Two early goals - a Stephen McManus own-goal and a superb free-kick from Paul Hartley - had Hearts supporters believing that the holy grail of the Champions League was within touching distance. However, Celtic had recovered from exactly the same deficit in their last visit here on New Year's Day to snatch a crucial 3-2 victory, so Valdas Ivanauskas's players showed no signs of relaxation until Roman Bednar added a third.

"I am happy with the performance," the Hearts caretaker manager said. "Yes it was a good result and yes we got three points, but the performance today was the best of the season."

Rangers' 3-1 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday had reduced to one point the gap between the teams chasing second place, after there had been 16 points between them last Christmas. It undoubtedly worked in Hearts' favour that Celtic had the championship sewn up long before yesterday's encounter but meetings between these old foes are seldom dull and the home side's stirring display should not go without due recognition.

McManus was the two-goal hero in that New Year meeting but now the young Celtic defender headed past his own goalkeeper Artur Boruc from a powerfully driven Hartley free-kick to hand Hearts an early opener. Visibly lifted by the breakthrough, Hearts surged forward in the ebullient manner that took them to the top of the SPL under George Burley earlier in the season. Hartley - hailed afterwards by Ivanauskas as one of the best midfielders in Europe - sent a swiftly taken free-kick high to Boruc's left only two minutes later as Celtic toiled to keep up with the pace of the game.

Rudi Skacel struck a drive off the post as the home side sought a killer third goal but Roy Keane missed a glaring opportunity to hand his side an avenue back into the game when he shot straight at Craig Gordon from three yards. Such wastefulness typified Celtic's afternoon. Hearts were more clinical and Bednar collected a succinct reverse pass from Hartley before clipping the final goal of the day over the advancing Boruc.

Gordon produced a magnificent save from the substitute Stilian Petrov in the dying stages but the post-match debate focused on claims by the Celtic captain Neil Lennon that Skacel had attempted to spit at him midway through the second half. Skacel, who was at the centre of a similar controversy during a match against Dundee United in February, vehemently denied Lennon's accusations.

"Hearts' free-kicks gave us problems, as I said to the players before the match that they would," said the Celtic manager Gordon Strachan. "We plugged away well but I think Hearts deserved to win."

The Wales striker John Hartson has confirmed that he will remain at Parkhead next season, when it seems almost certain Celtic's city rivals will be confined to a season without Champions League involvement. Just which of those issues will delight the Celtic support more remains open to conjecture.

Man of the match Rudi Skacel (Hearts)

Taken from the Guardian/Observer