Celtic 1-1 Hearts

Dec 14 2008 Gavin Berry Reports

STEPHEN McMANUS maintained Celtic's four-point lead at the top with a late leveller to deny Hearts a dream Old Firm double.

The skipper pounced to head home 11 minutes from time after Andrew Driver looked to have secured a sixth SPL victory on the spin for Csaba Laszlo's men.

But the fact McManus' goal was only the home side's second effort on target says it all about their out-of-sorts display, especially a dreadful first half branded one of their worst ever performances by boss Gordon Strachan.

Hearts arrived sky high in confidence and with a well-organised team whose game plan worked a treat for most of the match.

The real pity is that just as the Gorgie men have put together an impressive side it looks set to be ripped apart in January as Vladimir Romanov prepares to sell off his main assets.

And Vlad will be gleefully reaching for the calculator as his players' value rockets with every game.

This impressive display came just a fortnight after Hearts' 2-1 home win over Rangers - and the Light Blues' draw in yesterday's early game should have been the perfect pre-match boost for Celtic.

But they failed to take full advantage and the gap at the top remains tight with the Old Firm derby looming.

Jambos looked right up for the challenge of emulating capital rivals Hibs, who beat the Hoops last time out, and Robbie Neilson's booking for a foul on Mark Wilson after just 51 seconds underlined just how badly they wanted another Old Firm scalp.

Laszlo's side quickly showed they have far more about them than just a physical approach as they knocked Celtic off their stride then stunned them with the opening goal.

Full-back Neilson started the move with a run down the right and a ball inside to Laryea Kingston who nut megged Scott Brown to create space for a shot.

The Ghanaian miscued his attempt at goal but the ball fell to Driver who had made a good run and he coolly slotted beyond Artur Boruc.

Strachan had made just one change from the side that defeated Villarreal in midweek with Scott McDonald replacing Georgios Samaras to partner Shaun Maloney in attack.

But the Celts boss was forced into a reshuffle just before the half hour, throwing on Samaras when Maloney limped off with a hamstring injury after fighting for a loose ball.

After his Easter Road howler last week Boruc had restored his reputation with quality saves against Villarreal - and he pulled another one out of the bag here to prevent the champions going 2-0 down.

Gary Caldwell and Andreas Hinkel challenged for the same ball but only got in each other's way and it broke to Driver again.

The winger cut in from the left to crack a low shot that Boruc got down to brilliantly fingertip to safety.

It was a pivotal moment, especially as it came moments after the Pole had been caught in no man's land when he failed to collect Bruno Aguiar's free-kick inside a packed penalty area before his defence cleared.

And early in the second half Boruc failed to convince at another set-piece.

This time Aguiar's vicious inswinging corner fell to Christos Karipidis but luckily for the keeper Hinkel got in the way of the Greek's shot.

Laszlo then took Kingston off for the player's own good after he avoided a red card for a late challenge on Aiden McGeady moments after he'd been booked for fouling Brown. It took 72 minutes for Celtic to register their first attempt on target and even then sub Lee Naylor's 20-yard drive was easily saved by Janos Balogh.

But the Hoops had better luck seven minutes later when they once again showed the mark of champions by grinding out an equaliser.

Shunsuke Nakamura floated a ball in from the right, Samaras nodded across the face of goal and skipper McManus powered a header home to send Parkhead into raptures.

Brown then fired a shot just wide as Celts chased a dramatic late winner but a draw was the least Hearts deserved even though their impressive winning run came to an end.

REF WATCH

CHARLIE RICHMOND looked to have called a major decision wrong when he failed to show Laryea Kingston a second yellow card after the Ghanian's late challenge on Aiden McGeady. Other than that the whistler kept a lid on things well let the game flow. Rating: 5/10.

Taken from the Sunday Mail