Berra mishap sparks blitz

Patrick Glenn at Parkhead
Sunday August 26, 2007
The Observer

Gordon Strachan's anxieties over his team's scoring rate - lingering since last season - must have evaporated with this punishing performance, which brought their total to 12 in their past three league outings.

There was an implacable ruthlessness about the way Celtic took a depressed Hearts side apart, with Massimo Donati, Scott Brown, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Shunsuke Nakamura adding to the own goal from the luckless Christophe Berra that started the beating.

The Hearts defender's misfortune carried a certain irony, in that Celtic should require an opponent to provide them with the opening goal in a domestic match for the first time this season. Still, it seemed to put an edge on the champions' appetite that, by the finish, made them appear gluttonous.

It was also the least they deserved, even that early. For the preceding nine minutes, they had blitzed a Hearts team whose disarray seemed to have descended long before they arrived in Glasgow.

There was a carefulness about the visitors that hinted at awe, as if their priority was to minimise damage. This invited Celtic to practise the attacking game they are likely to employ in Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against Spartak Moscow. It was one they accepted without hesitation, Donati's goal midway through the first half providing conclusive evidence of their overall superiority.

If there had been, ultimately, an element of good fortune about that opening goal, the quick and fluent movement of the build-up merited the reward. Lee Naylor supplied Aiden McGeady, who immediately shuttled the ball to Scott McDonald inside the penalty area. The Australian forward jinked out to the left, turned and sent a precise cross back to Nakamura, whose volley struck Berra, diverting the ball far to the left of Steve Banks.

In truth, Celtic should have been further ahead even before Donati made his contribution. The Italian's deceptive gait carried him towards the penalty area on the right and, on receiving the pass from Nakamura, he drifted past two opponents and finished with a low shot that found the far corner of the net.

Hearts' general failure to make much of an impression in forward areas during the first half hardly squared with the two moments of menace that could have produced goals. Laryea Kingston's untracked run through the middle brought a shot that hit Artur Boruc's right post and a quick turn on the right from Kestutis Ivaskevicius forced the Poland goalkeeper to rush from his line to block at the Lithuanian's feet.

And when substitute Andrew Driver - one of three made by Hearts at the break - failed to exploit a golden opportunity early in the second half, there seemed to be a general acceptance that it would be the visitors' last shot at redemption. Driver dispossessed an unusually dilatory Wilson and moved towards Boruc, sliding the ball past the goalkeeper on his left and wide of the post.

Within another 14 minutes, Celtic ensured that the impression of Hearts' demise had not been misleading. The ubiquitous Brown - a contributor in every area of the field - was the beneficiary when McGeady's precise cross from the left found Vennegoor of Hesselink at the far post and the Holland striker headed it back across the six-yard box. Brown arrived in time to sweep it over the line from close range.

Vennegoor of Hesselink added the fourth from the penalty spot after Nakamura had nutmegged Berra on the right side of the area and was tripped from behind by the defender. Berra's miserable day was completed by referee Iain Brines raising the yellow card above his head.

Brown's extraordinary energy and commitment were the base on which the fifth goal was built. The former Hibernian midfielder's run through the middle took him past three opponents before he slipped the ball to Nakamura, to his right. The Japanese dinked the ball past Banks with the outside of his left foot.