Hearts 2 Celtic 0

There was relief all around Tynecastle that football was the centre of attention on Celtic's return to the stadium for the first time since the explosive evening of May 11, when Neil Lennon was assailed by a Hearts fan who bolted from his seat in the main stand. However, there was no respite for the Celtic manager from his team's stuttering form as their third league defeat of the season saw them slip 10 points behind Rangers and one point adrift of Motherwell.

Celtic do have a game in hand, but then they had two to spare going into this match – an illustration of the value of real victories rather than the notional kind. Lennon's plans were undermined by hesitancy at both ends of the field but that should not detract from Hearts' accomplishment.

They have been notably inconsistent and at times it looked as though Paulo Sergio simply did not grasp what was required to force a passage in the Scottish game, but on the credit side of the balance sheet is the fact that his players have now drawn with Rangers at Ibrox – Hearts are the only SPL team to have escaped defeat against the champions – and they have won against Celtic and Hibernian, all games that matter most to the Tynecastle faithful.

There was nothing to choose between the sides by the interval in a decent, but not exceptional, contest. The change occurred in the space of five second-half minutes around the hour mark.

Lennon, attended by a bodyguard who would not have looked misplaced in a Sumo wrestling match, must have wished that his defenders were as vigilant as his minder when they allowed a Jamie Hammill cross to drop in front of Rudi Skacel – the ball had been helped on its way by an inadvertent touch by David Templeton - who clipped a left-foot drive across Fraser Forster and in at the far post. The goalkeeper may have been unsighted but there was no plea of mitigation for Kris Commons in the next significant incident.

The Celtic midfielder, who has looked out of sorts on his appearances this season, embarked on a crossfield run on the halfway line and took a couple of nips from opponents en route, one of which saw him lose possession to Adrian Mrowiec. Commons' frustration boiled over and he crashed into the Pole in full view of Craig Thomson.

The referee – who was in charge of the two tumultuous encounters between these sides at the same venue last season – whipped the red card from his pocket. In the equivalent fixture last year Thomson sent Lennon to the stand and reported him for excessive misconduct, but on this occasion the Celtic manager made no case for Commons' loss of temper.

"One player lost his discipline and let us down badly. I didn't get a good look at it but from what I can gather it was a lunge and it was high," said Lennon. "He is going to be suspended again for one to three games. He has apologised but it is not good enough. He let himself down and let us down so he will be dealt with accordingly, in house."

Lennon had already withdrawn the ineffectual Mohamed Bangura – who displayed some of the haplessness that has brought Georgios Samaras into bad odour with the Celtic support – and sent on Anthony Stokes before Commons departed, so was left with no choice but to continue to chase the game with reduced strength. His options reduced further when Templeton caught Adam Matthews with a challenge that forced the Welsh defender to limp off.

Matthews was replaced by Mark Wilson, who found himself exposed at Hearts' second goal when Templeton found Stevenson with a cute backheeled pass which freed his colleague to take a couple of strides and drive past Forster from a few yards out.

"We were in control of the game when Hearts scored," said Lennon. "We missed simple clear-cut chances in the first half and away from home you can't afford to do that.

"We lost the goal and then the discipline and I cannot accept that either. When you are a goal down away from home with 10 men it leaves you open to a second goal, which is what happened.

"Ten points is redeemable but we can't afford to lose any more games."

Hearts were watched by Vladimir Romanov, who appeared in the dressing room beforehand – issuing a terse order to "Just win" – and the club's owner spent most of the proceedings grinning from his vantage point in the directors' box before leaving early for the airport. Paulo Sergio also departed the scene to catch a flight and it was left to Gary Locke to express satisfaction at the afternoon's events.

"We played badly at Ayr in the League Cup and again when we lost to St Johnstone last week, so we knew we had to make it up to the fans," said the Hearts first team coach. "To get a good result against either of the Old Firm, the whole team has to perform - and we had top performances from everyone, right through the team.

"I'd find it difficult to pick anybody out - we have the philosophy here that we win as a team and we lose as a team."

Lennon, meanwhile, spent the journey back to Glasgow pondering the mystery of how a team which had the best record of clean sheets last season – and the best goal difference – has become so hesitant front and back.

"I've got a lot of thinking to do. Do I change the system, do I change the personnel?" the Celtic manager wondered aloud.

"We lost four games the whole of last season and we have lost three this season already. I know it is not good enough and I've got to get things right very quickly."

The manager's train of thought was summarised in even more pithy fashion by Matthews, when the full-back said: "We've got to learn – and learn quickly – because if the gap gets any bigger we'll have no chance."

Match details

Hearts (4-2-3-1): MacDonald; Hammill, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger; Jonsson, Black (Smith 88); Skacel (Obua 76), Mrowiec, Templeton (Novikovas 84); Stevenson.
Subs: Balogh (g), Robinson, Elliott, McGowan.
Booked: Black, Skacel.
Celtic (4-1-3-2): Forster; Matthews (M Wilson 72), Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Kaddouri (McCourt 79); Forrest, Ki, Wanyama, Commons; Bangura (Stokes 58), Hooper.
Subs: Zaluska (g), Samaras, Slane.
Booked: Ki.
Sent off: Commons.
Referee: C Thomson.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk