Celtic sweep Hearts aside to make it 13 wins in a row

By ALAN PATTULLO
Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 22:52

THE latest meeting between Hearts and Celtic once again provided much to talk about. The home side failed to recover from the blow of seeing Stephen Elliott’s second-minute header saved by goalkeeper Fraser Forster, with the ball having already appeared to have crossed the line.

Those noxious ingredients of frustration, anger and regret combined to stifle the home team’s effectiveness thereafter. A powerful Celtic side preyed on this and collected a 13th Scottish Premier League victory in succession, to go four points clear of Rangers at the summit.

The visitors did not need long to take advantage of the early let-off. They scored the opener within the same passage of play through their suddenly prolific captain Scott Brown, who has now scored four times in his last four games. Victor Wanyama made it two after 18 minutes and then Joe Ledley’s header just after the half-hour mark all but extinguished any hope of a Hearts comeback. Gary Hooper completed the scoring in the second-half.

There was, however, still much to discuss after the final whistle had sounded. Although the game had petered out in the end, it was another night of high drama at Tynecastle. It was hard to see how this clash could produce anything to match recent encounters between the teams. They left off in a cloud of drama after Hearts missed a penalty in the dying minutes of the last meeting at Parkhead. These old rivals re-commenced their duel in similarly explosive fashion and again Hearts were left to rue a missed opportunity, one which defined what occurred over the next 88 minutes.

Barely a minute had elapsed when Andrew Driver slung in a corner kick which Andy Webster headed back towards the edge of the six-yard box. Elliott had both space and time in which to head the ball into the net. He failed to connect powerfully enough, however.

Ledley and then Fraser Forster were given the chance to clear, the latter clawing the ball back off the goal-line amidst cheers from the home fans. They, understandably, felt the ball had crept in, and Elliott will know that he should have left no room for doubt.

The near-side assistant referee, Andy Tait, was left with a decision to make, and he very purposefully ran back towards the half-way line with his flag pointing firmly towards the ground as play continued, via a Mulgrew clearance.

In his defence, Tait’s view had been obstructed by several players. Rangers manager Ally McCoist accepted that it was nearly impossible to gauge whether Lee Wallace’s header had crossed the line in the Old Firm game at Parkhead in December.

Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager, might have to concede this, too.

Play raged on, much to the disgust of the Hearts supporters and delight of those packed tighly into the away end, and under the noses of whom the drama had unfolded. These spectators were best placed to see what television pictures appeared to suggest – that the ball had squeezed over the line before Forster’s desperate intervention.

Hearts’ dismay was palpable and they allowed such an emotion to inhibit their performance. Within 60 seconds Celtic had feasted on this loss of focus. Skipper Brown continued his spate of goalscoring form after latching onto a rebound after James Forrest’s shot had been blocked by his own team-mate, Georgios Samaras.

He drilled an angled shot into the corner of Jamie MacDonald’s goal like a seasoned goal-poacher. The goal concluded a remarkable opening burst of action. While captivating, it was clearly the last thing which the Lothian & Borders Police will have wanted. The Hearts fans were left nursing a grievance and the joyous Celtic followers goaded them further. On the field, Hearts struggled to compose themselves. Brown was rampant, firing just over after a poor ball from Ryan McGowan had put Hearts under pressure. Driver was then booked after up-ending Samaras.

Hearts had clearly been rattled by both the decision not to allow the goal and Celtic’s swift response. It was no surprise, therefore, when the visitors doubled their lead after 18 minutes. Wanyama took advantge of a kind ricochet after Forrest’s shot had been blocked by a cluster of Hearts defenders. With hardly any backlift, he found the top corner of the net from ten yards.

It could very quickly have got worse for Hearts, with Marius Zaliukas almost finding his own net when cutting out a cross from Charlie Mulgrew. Hearts did concede a third just minutes later. The half hour mark had only just been passed when Celtic scored a game-ending third after a Samaras break down the left. His cross evaded MacDonald and was then headed into the empty net by Ledley.

The second half-grew to become a procession, something feared by those Hearts fans who took the opportunity provided by the half-time interval to leave the ground completely. It is a rare occasion when their team don’t give Celtic a game and here circumstances had conspired firmly against Hearts.

But they still had to be professional enough to see out the game, preferrably without letting frustration get the better of them. It was for this reason that the already booked Driver was left inside the dressing-room after the interval, though the winger had also struggled in the opening 45 minutes. Gary Glen replaced Driver.

Celtic took only 14 minutes of the second-half to score a fourth goal, from a corner after Ledley’s cross had hit a post and then been cleared behind. Hooper pounced after Wanyama’s header from Mulgrew’s corner had been blocked on the line. The similarity with the goalmouth scramble of the first minute was hard to avoid and simply deepened the anguish of those Hearts fans who had returned to their seats after the interval.

A four-goal lead offered Neil Lennon the perfect opportunity to start making ceremonial substitutions. Brown was taken off after 73 minutes, after what had been his fourth goal-scoring appearance in succession. He was given a predictably rousing send-off by the Celtic fans, who also loudly cheered the arrival of new signing Pawel Brozek, the skipper’s replacement.

The Polish striker took his place up front alongside Anthony Stokes, who had come on for Hooper. Suso Santana and Rudi Skacel were the new blood offered by Hearts.

However, the game was gone, and their influence on it proved minimal.

Taken from the Scotsman