IT'S LUCKY 13 FOR CELTS
CELTIC 2 HEARTS 1
Mark Guidi At Parkhead

CELTIC turned in their worst performance of the season but still took a giant step toward the title thanks to a stoppage-time blunder from Hearts keeper Craig Gordon.

The Scotland No.1 fumbled a Stephen McManus shot over the line to gift the champions an undeserved victory.

Gordon Strachan's side are now 13 points clear at the top but the Jambos will be kicking themselves after blowing a golden chance to cut the gap to just seven.

They deservedly took the lead after 72 minutes through Andrius Velicka and looked set for a morale-boosting win.

But Hoops sub Jiri Jarosik levelled with five minutes to go before Gordon's error sent the Parkhead crowd wild.

Celts never gave up and showed great bottle and character - but this was a poor game.

Not a single player stood out from the mediocrity.

Gordon looked nervy in the early stages and fumbled a shot from Maciej Zurawski in 22 minutes.

That strike from distance was the Pole's only positive contribution until he was taken off for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink just before the hour mark.

The fit-again Dutchman gave Celtic a lift and suddenly the Jambos defence - without injured skipper Steven Pressley - had more to think about.

In saying that, young Christophe Berra performed well and got in plenty of challenges.

Paul Hartley also did a good job standing in as captain.

Hearts had the better of the early exchanges and should have gone ahead on the half hour.

With Paul Telf er sleeping, Saulius Mikoliunas dribbled his way through the defence to create an excellent chance for himself.

The Lithuanian struck a right-foot shot low to Artur Boruc's left but the keeper stuck out a foot to deflect it away.

Strachan lost the plot with his players for their sloppy defending and was raging seconds later when Hearts carved open the Hoops back line once more.

Deividas Cesnauskis laid it on a plate for Velicka six yards out with a perfect cutback. However, the striker failed to connect properly and fluffed his shot.

Visiting teams at Parkhead rarely get better chances and more often than not are punished later at the other end.

Those openings were rare highlights in a dull first half as neither side managed to string three passes together.

Celtic were tired and deflated after their 3-0 midweek defeat at Benf ica in the Champions League.

Strachan's men did raise their game in the final few minutes of the first period but failed to seriously test Gordon.

Both sides played with wingers but they never really got at the fullbacks. There seemed to be a fear to take players on and the wide men took the easy option too often.

For long spells the entertainment value came from the Hearts technical area.

Watching temporary gaffer Eduard Malof eev giving assistant boss John McGlynn instructions to pass to the players via an interpreter was comical.

But the Jambos still looked the better side and almost grabbed the opener two minutes after the break.

Mikoliunas robbed Telf er on the left and raced in on goal. He had the option of laying the ball to Velicka but chose to shoot from an acute angle eight yards out and his shot flew inches wide.

With Hoops skipper Neil Lennon and Evander Sno struggling the Jambos controlled midfield.

They continued to create the better chances and Velicka was just a yard too high with a cracking right-foot shot from the edge of the area after 69 minutes.

However, three minutes later the striker made no mistake as he fired Hearts into the lead.

Celtic lost possession on the halfway line and Velicka was sent one-on-one with McManus.

He managed to make a yard for himself with a neat stepover before drilling a right-foot shot past Boruc from 17 yards. It looked like a knockout blow but Celtic hauled themselves level in 85 minutes.

Shunsuke Nakamura swung over a terrific corner from the left and Jarosik held off a challenge from Ibrahim Tall to bullet a header low past Gordon from six yards.

Ref Craig Thomson added four minutes of injury time and in the final seconds Celts scored the dramatic winner.

Hearts failed to deal with another Nakamura corner and after a bit of bobbling around the ball fell to McManus. His shot was parried into the air by Gordon who then fumbled into the net between a post and Robbie Neilson.

You just can't make mistakes like that if you want to win the title.

However, Gordon was one of several players who didn't perform on both sides and there wasn't a worthy man of the match.

REFWATCH

CRAIG THOMSON had his work cut out and could have crumbled under the pressure. But he didn't let himself down and never shirked making tough decisions. An excellent display.Rating: 7/10.

Taken from the Sunday Mail