Hearts 1-1 Celtic

Andrius Velicka's injury-time penalty secured a point for Hearts in a lacklustre encounter at Tynecastle.

Both sides struggled to play football in a poor first half disrupted by stoppages and misplaced passes.

Celtic were gifted the opener when Anthony Basso palmed Paul Hartley's free-kick into McDonald's path and the Australian fired home from close-range.

But Hearts were not to be denied and Velicka scored from the spot after Gary Caldwell fouled Ibrahim Tall.

Hearts made two changes to their midfield with Michael Stewart suspended and Eggert Jonsson injured.

Tall came back in central defence while Ruben Palazuelos was handed a rare start.

Steven Pressley and Darren O'Dea returned to the Celtic starting line-up, as Gordon Strachan looked to combat the loss of Lee Naylor and John Kennedy through injury.

Massimo Donati was again on the bench despite scoring an injury-time winner against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ksanavicius should have given the hosts the lead inside two minutes, but his effort flew wide.

Celtic almost made Hearts pay on the half-hour mark, but McDonald shot over from inside the six-yard box after Aiden McGeady's cross.

Hearts spurned a great chance to take the lead within two minutes when Ksanavicius shot wide of Artur Boruc's goal from 12 yards when it looked easier to score.

Jiri Jarosik went close for the visitors after 16 minutes with a 30-yard shot which sped wide of Anthony Basso's goal.

Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between in a first half disrupted by stoppages and misplaced passes.

Celtic looked tired from their midweek Champions League exploits as Hearts enjoyed territorial advantage without breaking the deadlock.

McDonald shot over from inside the six-yard box after a superb low cross from McGeady just after the half-hour mark.

Laryea Kingston summed up the shooting of the first half when he blazed over from the edge of the area three minutes before the break.

McDonald broke the deadlock in unlikely fashion when Basso made a hash of Hartley's free-kick and the Australian striker fired the ball home from close-range.

Boruc saved Ksanavicius' raking drive deep into injury-time, but Caldwell was adjudged to have fouled Tall as they fought for the rebound, and referee Kenny Clark pointed to the spot.

Velicka steered his penalty past Boruc's despairing dive to rescue a point for the home side.

Hearts: Basso, Neilson, Tall, Berra, Goncalves, Zaliukas (Elliot 79), Ksanavicius, Kingston, Palazuelos (Mikoliunas 79), Driver, Nade (Velicka 71). Subs Not Used: Banks, Wallace, McGowan, Ivaskevicius.

Booked: Kingston, Palazuelos.

Goals: Velicka 90 pen.

Celtic: Boruc, Caldwell, Pressley, McManus, O'Dea, McGeady, Scott Brown, Hartley, Jarosik, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Killen 88), McDonald. Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Zurawski, Donati, Sno, Riordan, Caddis.

Goals: McDonald 73.

Att: 16,454

Ref: K Clark

Taken from the BBC