Transformed Celtic exact revenge on Hearts with comfortable victory

Scottish Premier League 2011-12
Hearts 0
Celtic 4

Brown 3,
Wanyama 20,
Ledley 31,
Hooper 60

Ewan Murray at Tynecastle
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 February 2012 22.02 GMT

This Celtic team is unrecognisable from the one which suffered a seemingly wounding defeat at Tynecastle in October.

Neil Lennon's men gained rampant revenge for that loss, their last in domestic competition, with this showing. Rangers not only have much-publicised off-field worries to contend with; they must ask where and when this winning Celtic run is likely to end. Lennon hailed Celtic's showing on their latest visit to Edinburgh as their best of his tenure.

Hearts opened the game with cause for injustice. By full-time, they were utterly browbeaten both on account of their own glaring shortcomings and Celtic's ruthlessness.

"I thought we were devastating," said Lennon. "We were powerful, quick on the counter attack. The intensity and quality of our play was exceptional. I feel a bit for Hearts because they lost a couple of quality players before the game but they caught us on a good night."

Matches between Hearts and Celtic are seldom quiet but the opening to this one was even more of an eruption than is customary.

Hearts should have been awarded a goal within two minutes as a Stephen Elliott header, blocked by Joe Ledley, subsequently crossed the line. Yet neither the referee Willie Collum nor his assistant Andy Tait confirmed this. Given that Ledley was positioned on the goalline, and the ball dropped behind him, the officials should have done better. It proved merely the latest incident in an inauspicious season for Scottish refereeing.

Lennon admitted the goal should have stood as, obviously, did his Hearts counterpart, Paulo Sérgio. The Portuguese also believed – more dubiously – that Ledley stopped the ball with an arm.

"If he [the referee] does not see the goal, he should see the handball; then it is a red card and a penalty," Sergio said. "We have been very unlucky with decisions in our last three games."

If Hearts are entitled to a sense of grievance over that – and the difference it triggered to the flow of the game – they must also look no further than their own defensive deficiencies. Celtic, moreover, carried their own undeniably potent goal threat.

Within 33 seconds of the Elliott controversy, Scott Brown had sent the visitors in front. A James Forrest shot ricocheted back into the Celtic captain's path; Brown's finish, for his fourth goal in as many games, was first class.

After 20 minutes that advantage was doubled. Victor Wanyama offered an even better strike than Brown, high past Jamie MacDonald after another Forrest effort was blocked.

By this stage, the Celtic attacking was relentless. Sergio had opted to switch to a three-man defence which proved an unmitigated disaster. Sergio's half-time move to 4-4-2 conjured images of horses, stable doors and bolting.

Ledley ensured Celtic had a three-goal lead by that juncture. The Hearts captain, Marius Zaliukas, cheaply conceded possession to Brown, with Ledley heading a subsequent Georgios Samaras cross home – completely unchallenged – at the back post.

Ledley's next opportunity, 14 minutes after the restart, bounced back off a post before Hearts scrambled behind from a corner. From that set play, Gary Hooper scored at close range.

All that remained for was Lennon to hand a debut to his recently-recruited Polish striker, Pawel Brozek. The contest was over, in all but name, long before that.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer