Sleepy Celtic given rude awakening by Hearts

By Roddy Forsyth

Celtic 0 (0) Hearts 2 (0)

An unseasonably mild night in the east end of Glasgow nevertheless brought heavy weather for Celtic as they tumbled out of the CIS Cup against a diligent and dedicated Hearts side.

The visitors stuck to their game plan and were rewarded when they twice struck on the break through their substitute striker, Andrius Velicka, to edge into the semi-finals of the tournament in the spring.

Sleepy Celtic given rude awkening
Warm Hearts: Christophe Berra celebrates with Anthony Basso

Velicka's first arrived 12 minutes from time when he shot home a cutback from Andy Driver and, with four minutes left to play, he smashed home a spectacular effort to guarantee the Tynecastle team's place in the last four.

When it is possible to pick one's spot in the car park an hour before kickoff, it signifies a low crowd with resulting reduction of atmosphere. Sure enough, the fact that the match was being screened live on TV was sufficient to restrict the attendance to just 21,492.

Compared to previous Celtic selections in the earlier stages of the CIS Cup, Gordon Strachan fielded a strong line-up with two changes from the side that beat Motherwell on Saturday. Massimo Donati came in for Shunsuke Nakamura and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink replaced Chris Killen.

Hearts, meanwhile, made one alteration to the team defeated 3-1 at Kilmarnock. Christian Nade, who was red carded at Rugby Park, made way for Calum Elliot, allotted the lone forward role in a 4-5-1 line-up.
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The first Hearts player into the Celtic box, however, was Andrius Ksnavicius, who tumbled as he was challenged by Gary Caldwell. Penalties have been given for less, but Ksnavicius had perhaps pushed the ball too far ahead of himself to be completely plausible and when the same player swan-dived under pressure from John Kennedy a minute later he was shown a yellow card.

After this promising start, Hearts settled into a comfortable rhythm, largely untroubled by Celtic on the field and certainly not their subdued support off it. It took 20 minutes for Scott McDonald to try his luck with an effort that went square into the grasp of Anthony Basso, but much longer for the French goalkeeper to be called into real action – a spectacular tip over from a wickedly dipping Scott Brown shot, set up by Paul Hartley's cute free-kick.

To be sure, Celtic displayed a degree of urgency as the interval neared, but the story of the half was summed up by the fact that it yielded only a single corner, won by the hosts.

With the dreaded prospect of extra time looking probable even at half time, Gordon Strachan sent on Evander Sno for Lee Naylor. An immediate Celtic thrust from the re-start saw Brown tee up McDonald for an effort, which rebounded off Basso's leg, but it was not a harbinger of tumultuous incident. Instead, the stalemate reasserted itself, prompting the Hoops' fans to register their frustration when Sno thrashed a clear opportunity over the crossbar.

In such circumstances there was always the prospect of Hearts producing a sting in their tale. When it came, the Celtic fans in the main stand indignantly claimed that Driver had carried the ball over the sideline – TV pictures proved that the whole of the ball had not crossed the line – before teeing up Velicka for his swirling strike.

In any case, the substitute put the matter beyond debate with his dazzling and decisive second contribution.

Match details
Celtic (4-4-2): Boruc; Caldwell, Kennedy, McManus, Naylor (Sno h-t); Donati, S Brown, Hartley, McGeady; Vennegoor of Hesselink (Killen 71), McDonald.
Subs: G Brown (g), Jarosik, O'Brien.
Hearts (4-5-1): Basso; Neilson, Tall, Berra, Goncalves; Driver, Stewart, Zaliukias (Jonsson 64), Palazuelos, Ksnavicius (Mikoliunas 88); Elliot (Velicka 74).
Subs: Kurskis (g), Wallace.
Booked: Ksanevicius.
Referee: Kenny Clark (Scotland).

Taken from telegraph.co.uk