Hearts 0 Celtic 4

Feb 9 2012 By Keith Jackson
Scott Brown

CELTIC did not just beat Hearts at Tynecastle last night. They savaged them. They mauled them mercilessly until it was too painful for some of the home supporters to bear.

In so doing, they sent out the clearest message yet that this bloodthirsty brutality will not let up until they have ripped the SPL crown clean off the head of their oldest rivals.

Yes, after clocking up 16 straight wins Neil Lennon's men are now nearing their most rampant and the manner in which they tore through Hearts suggests they are building a momentum which may make them unstoppable.

Their lead at the top may only be four points but there is a clear distance now between Celtic and the rest.

In fact, on current form, they are miles ahead of Rangers who will do well just to stay within sight of them.

Certainly, Hearts were no match for this green and white machine even though boss Paulo Sergio and his players were rightly incensed in the opening exchanges when ref Willie Collum and his helpers failed to spot that a Stephen Elliott header crossed Celtic's goal-line before being hacked away by Joe Ledley and Fraser Forster.

Had that one counted then maybe Hearts may have made more of a fist of it. Maybe.

Instead, Celtic raced to the other end of the pitch and their fastemerging talisman, Scott Brown, smacked them into a lead which they were simply never going to give up.

More goals followed in the onslaught.

Victor Wanyama bagged a second and before half-time Ledley made it 3-0. Gary Hooper gleefully helped himself to a fourth and, with half an hour still remaining, Hearts found themselves humiliated on their own turf.

Lennon made only one change to his weekend line-up from Inverness with one winger, James Forrest, replacing another in Kris Commons.

Explosive This was welcome news for Stuart Pearce who made the trip north to run the rule over Forrest, Brown and Welsh full-back Adam Matthews - all three of whom are in his provisional pool of players for Team GB.

Sergio, on the other hand, struggled just to fill his own team. No David Templeton and no Ian Black. Keeper Marian Kello banished to the salt mines and Rudi Skacel sulking on the bench.

Sergio shaped what was left into a 5-4-1 and banked on them choking Celtic's creative centre with sheer weight of numbers.

What he couldn't have expected, though, was for this match to get off to such an explosive and controversial start with his team denied an opening goal with less than two minutes on the clock - and then conceding one at the other end 20 seconds later.

It was whirlwind stuff. Lone striker Elliott looked a cert to head his team in front after Andy Webster had nodded a corner back across the six-yard box.

Elliott headed for goal only for Ledley to block, perhaps even with an arm, before the ball was scrambled away by keeper Forster.

But Elliott was convinced the ball had crossed the line before Ledley had got in the way and TV pictures would prove him right.

In the confusion the PA music even started up in celebration before, to the utter delight of the Celtic fans behind Forster's goal, it became obvious the officials were waving play on.

While the Hearts players looked around bewildered, Celtic's sprung straight up field and, in a blur, Brown appeared inside Jamie MacDonald's penalty box to rifle a low right-foot shot into the bottom corner of the net.

This was astonishing and the sight of ex-Hibee Brown, arms outstretched in trademark celebration, was all too much for the home supporters who reacted to his goading with raw fury.

And so it began. Just another one of those Gorgie Nights.

Brown nearly bagged a spectacular second soon after when he ripped for goal with a shot from 30 yards which dipped just over MacDonald's bar.

Then, at the other end, Scott Robinson let fly only for his shot to be deflected wide. It was frantic stuff all played out against the usual backdrop of festering bad blood between this feuding pair.

Celtic's fans taunted their capital rivals by reminding them of their impending financial doom. For good measure, they reminded Rangers of theirs too.

Stormed On the park, their team was hellbent on wreaking carnage.

In 19 minutes Forrest unloaded a shot that thwacked into a cluster of legs in the Hearts box. But Wanyama reacted first to spin on to a wonderful first touch and send the ball crashing home.

The energy and sheer tenacity of Celtic's play was tearing holes in Sergio's game plan. And in 31 minutes they had stormed into a three-goal lead.

Again, Brown played a key part, hurtling forward like a freshly shorn dervish to close down Marius Zaliukas and rob him of possession deep inside the Hearts half.

Brown shuttled it on to Gary Hooper. Hooper fed it out wide to Georgios Samaras and the Greek then conjured a magnificent cross to the back post where Ledley was arriving to thud a header home from close range.

Lennon's touchline celebrations were verging on euphoric. This was better than he could have hoped for and not even a booking for Charlie Mulgrew before the break could dampen the spirit.

Sergio responded at half-time by replacing Andy Driver with Gary Glen. But, as an act of kindness, he might as well have told the rest of his starting 11 to stay inside as, by heading back out that tunnel, they were only putting themselves back in harm's way.

They almost lost a fourth goal in 59 minutes when Matthews and Hooper set up Ledley only for the midfielder to smack a shot off MacDonald's left-hand post before the ball was scrambled away for a corner.

Mulgrew floated it back in from the right, Wanyama won the header at the back post and Hooper barged in to bundle the ball over the line.

The only question now was: Would this romp become a rout? Lennon sent for more firepower, replacing Hooper with Anthony Stokes and allowing Brown to rest his legs while unleashing new boy Pawel Brozek.

But Hearts survived without any further damage done and in the knowledge it will be someone else's turn on Saturday.

Taken from the Daily Record