A winning hand

THE misery at Hearts is unrelenting.

With the players still awaiting the bulk of their November wages and another pay date looming this week – and the SFA and SPL admitting they are basically powerless to intervene – the Tynecastle side must have thought that at least some good fortune was coming their way when they were awarded an 89th-minute penalty at Parkhead.

However, their hopes of having something to celebrate in the form of an equaliser were cruelly dashed when Fraser Forster dived full length to his left to palm away Eggert Jonsson's spot-kick.

No wonder Jamie Hamill seemed a bit tetchy when Scott Brown reminded him of the scoreline as the pair exchanged a handshake at the final whistle.

The rammy that ensued, spilling up the tunnel, with such unlikely candidates as James Forrest and Gary Locke becoming involved, was in keeping with a tense afternoon in the East End of Glasgow.

However, when the dust had settled this was another good day for Celtic. It was their sixth SPL win in a row, meaning they stay four points behind Rangers at the top, and keeps things ticking over ahead of Thursday's decisive Europa League visit to Udine.

On a day when Celtic weren't at their most fluent, it was fitting that the two matchwinners should be less-heralded members of the side. Forster hasn't always been a favourite with everyone at Parkhead, while the sublime winning goal, struck unerringly into Marian Kello's top left-hand corner, was Victor Wanyama's first for the club.

The 20-year-old Kenyan – who later gave away the penalty – ran away with his arms aloft after scoring, before breaking into a spring and sliding across the pitch on his knees. "Today was the best goal of my career in professional football," he said "It was a very good moment. I didn't know if the ball was going to go in or not. I am very happy to score my first goal at home in front of our many fans."

By rights, Hearts should have been turning up at Celtic Park with morale at rock bottom, but however desperate their plight is, their players were certainly in the shop window, and any scouts who went along looking to snap up some bargain Christmas shopping will not have been disappointed.

The Tynecastle side showed app- lication, organisation and desire to stifle their hosts. Celtic were deprived of Adam Matthews, but the right flank still seemed their most likely route to a goal early on, although Ryan McGowan was battling gamely against James Forrest and Cha Du-Ri.

From one Forrest burst and cross, Gary Hooper, player of the month for November, almost added another goal to his collection.

The Englishman was given the benefit of the doubt when he outmuscled Marius Zaliukas, but uncharacteristically skewed his shot wide from the corner of the six-yard box. Hooper had another chance following a break-out from Glenn Loovens, and Anthony Stokes stung Kello's palms from distance, but Hearts were hanging in there.

Scott Robinson fired over and then David Templeton could have done more when he burst on to a slack Georgios Samaras pass.

Celtic needed urgency and found some in the form of their captain. Brown replaced Loovens at half-time, and his appearance drove his side on from midfield, but the visitors weren't going quietly. Robinson fired wide and was then closed out from a Ryan Stevenson cross when he could have let the ball run through to the better-positioned Mehdi Taouil.

The greater balance of chances were being created at the other end. Another lightning burst from Forrest led to a Stokes header which rebounded from the bar.

Wanyama's big moment came when, after two short, first-time passes from Brown and Charlie Mulgrew, he latched on to the ball and fired in a 25-yard drive that veered away from Kello and deposited itself in the top corner.

Stokes and Samaras each went close to adding a second, but Hearts still weren't giving up. From a late corner, a clever back heel from Stephen Elliott forced a sharp save from Forster, and Wanyama was adjudged to have used an arm to deny Stevenson from the rebound.

After an eternity of games-manship and quibbling over whether the ball was on the spot, fuelling the bad feeling which spilled over at the end, Jonsson took the kick and Forster stepped up to save his team. Hearts players might not be earning wages, but they certainly paid the penalty yesterday.

Taken from the Herald