First blood goes to Hearts

SURELY, not even the perfectionist in Vladimir Romanov cared a jot about the aesthetics of Hearts' sweaty victory against Celtic.
The Russian owner has sneered at the Old Firm's perceived stylistic limitations, and was less than enamoured by the manner in which his team completed the formality of their progression into the final qualifying round of the Champions League in midweek.

This mongrel of a match nevertheless emphasised Hearts' ability to emulate, if not improve upon, last season's feats despite the departures of Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster.
Until Roman Bednar's match-winning intervention, this eyesore of a game threatened to be overshadowed by the Battle of the Baldies. John McGlynn and Garry Pendrey were involved in the kind of phlegm-coated conversation that only spoilsports like match officials take exception to.

A tedious first half erupted when Gordon Strachan blew a fuse at perceived inconsistency in protocol for injured players, sparking scenes of playground petulance that required the appointed prefect, Stuart Dougal, to banish both Strachan and McGlynn to the stand.
Somehow, the stiff-jawed jack-in-the-box Valdas Ivanauskaus managed to keep his spring coiled. Until, of course, Bednar brought the house down. "It was such a special game, we beat the champions and the atmosphere was unbelievable. It was very important for me. I wanted this win," said Ivanauskas. It was a bad day for his blood pressure.
It is an afternoon Neil Lennon will wish to erase from memory. The Celtic captain found himself squeezed out of a starting place because of the form of Jiri Jarosik and Stilian Petrov in the 4-1 win against Kilmarnock last week.

From suspension to the substitutes bench, Lennon's day would degenerate even further. The Irishman, smarting from his demotion, was unable to conduct a warm-up in peace owing to a moronic element of the Hearts support who hounded him from the front row of the main stand. There is a world of difference between banter and intimidation.
Still, worse was to follow. He was stripped and ready for action only for Petrov to equalise and return him to his seat. He must have wished he hadn't bothered to leave the house. After finally receiving the call-to-arms, Lennon's uncharacteristically slack pass-back was intercepted by Bednar with three minutes remaining to restore Hearts' advantage.
It was telling that the destiny of the points revolved around two traditionally unobtrusive holding midfielders. While Lennon endured a traumatic day, Bruno Aguiar soared imperiously above the general anti-football.

The Portuguese player put in a sterling shift; rarely wasteful in possession, dogged in his protection of Steven Pressley and Christophe Berra yet
cruelly denied a goal by the crossbar. He even compensated for the mistakes made by his harassed midfield colleague, Julien Brellier.
Bednar, though, was the ultimate matchwinner. The Czech powerhouse displayed all the attributes that Celtic now lack since the departures of John Hartson and Chris Sutton. A persistent physical threat, the imposing targetman also possesses a subtle scoring touch and could have celebrated a hat trick had the far-side assistant, Gary Cheyne, not wrongly flagged for offside.

Tynecastle throbbed with anticipation of a momentous struggle between last season's dominant forces in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague. The protagonists struggled all right, momentously at that. The first half was a shambolic mess, enlivened only by the animation evoked from the respective dugouts upon witnessing such an eyesore. Ivanauskas may be a man of few words but the Lithuanian let his actions do the talking. Well, given his side's parlous contribution, someone had to.

At various stages of an infuriating first 45 minutes, Neil McCann and Brellier caused their manager acute apoplexy with their faltering contributions. Before being banished to the stand, McGlynn spent most of his time nodding agreeably as Ivanauskas ranted and raved like a wildman, while gesticulating like a deranged octopus.

Strachan had his own causes for angst, usually relayed in scatter-gun fashion via the closest available player, Mark Wilson. Agitated and irritable, the stand-side assistant, Tom Murphy, and fourth official, Calum Murray, were significant contributors to his darkening mood.
Given the disjointed chaos afield, the touchline altercation between Strachan and McGlynn provided some light relief. And, er, that was that for a thoroughly underwhelming first half, save for the enforced removal of Ibrahim Tall midway through after landing awkwardly and rupturing knee ligaments.

"It's serious," moaned Ivanauskas, with the player replaced by Robbie Neilson, whose international call-up last week was tempered by substitution against Sikori Brijeg in midweek and subsequent demotion yesterday.
Mercifully, the second half was a marked improvement. Perhaps embarrassed by the coaches' scene-stealing cameo, the players demonstrated hitherto dormant purpose.
It took three minutes for Hearts to break the monotony. Paul Telfer's intended pass down the line was blocked by McCann, Aguiar rolled the ball in behind Celtic's defence and Bednar sped clear before slewing the ball past Artur Boruc.

Bednar had the ball in the net again minutes later but his run was wrongly judged offside. Just as Celtic appeared to be losing a grip on the game an equaliser occurred from their first fluid flash of possession.

Maciej Zurawski sprayed the ball to Kenny Miller in a rare moment of interaction between the isolated strikers, he back-heeled to Aiden McGeady, and having been under-used throughout, the playmaker's incisive pass gave Petrov time and space to finish handsomely.

Game on. Finally. Lennon was introduced to add bite to a docile midfield, in place of a frustrated and inhibited Miller, and the ineffectual Shunsuke Nakamura was also substituted for Stephen Pearson. The Japanese midfielder is a sumptuous talent at Parkhead but cultivating a reputation as an away-day liability.

With three minutes remaining, Lennon was left with his head in his hands. He watched helplessly, and horrified, as his underhit backpass was gobbled-up by Bednar, who rounded the committed Boruc to complete a hard-fought home win. Hearts mean business. Again.

Taken from the Herald