Capital gains as Celtic incur disputed penalty

THE route to the second Hearts-Hibernian Scottish Cup final ever has been long and tortuous.

It was marked yesterday by a shuddering collision and an outbreak of road rage.

The capital teams will contest the final, on May 19, for the first time since 1896. Neil Lennon, who will have Hampden dates before then as his comments about referees are considered by the disciplinary authorities, will almost certainly face another charge after he approached Euan Norris, the referee, with a frank assessment of the official's performance.

It was yet another occasion when refereeing controversy haunted a Scottish football occasion. Norris awarded Hearts a penalty in the dying minutes of the match after the ball struck Joe Ledley's arm from a Marius Zaliukas shot. It came just minutes after Gary Hooper had equalised Rudi Skacel's opener with a header from an offside position. Ian Black, the Hearts midfielder, was also lucky to escape with a yellow card for a gratuitous, malicious studs-up tackle on Ledley during the first half.

Celtic, too, had a roar for a penalty in the dying seconds when the ball cannoned off Andy Webster. A hand ball, screamed the Celtic support. Norris waved their cries away.

Moments later he blew the final whistle and was subsequently confronted by the enraged Celtic manager. Hearts and their support, meanwhile, were celebrating with a raucous abandon. It was an astonishing, uninhibited end to a match that was marked by caution and by carelessness.

The first was the dominant theme of Hearts' play in the first half. The Edinburgh side came to restrict Celtic and succeeded. Their only offensive efforts in the first half – apart from the Black challenge – was when Stephen Elliott intercepted a poor pass back by Kelvin Wilson inside the first minute but was denied by Fraser Forster, and when Webster boomed a free header over the bar from a corner.

Carelessness was the theme adopted by Celtic. Mikael Lustig was offered so much room wide on the right that he must have believed he was suffering from some highly contagious disease. Whatever his ailment, it was not precise crossing. His final ball into the area was regularly innocuous, however the full-back may assert that blame for that lies with the runs of his forward players.

He should, though, have been rewarded with an assist for a goal just before half-time when he found Ki Sung-Yueng at the back post and the South Korean hammered his header against a post. He did the same with a similar chance in the second half.

The transformation in Hearts was effected at half-time. Craig Beattie came on for Scott Robinson and Hearts enjoyed a maroon patch for 20 minutes. This was gilded by the opener when the former Celtic player guided Black's pass into the feet of Skacel and the Czech sidestepped Forster before shooting high into the net. A Skacel shot was then well-saved by Forster before Beattie hit wide.

Hearts, for so long on the back foot, seemed to be marching towards a meeting with Hibs next month. This impression was accentuated when Charlie Mulgrew headed strongly and MacDonald's hand diverted the ball to Anthony Stokes, whose knee failed to direct the ball into the net.

Celtic stepped up the pace and Kris Commons, who had spurned an excellent chance in the first half with a heavy touch, was just too slow to fasten on to a through ball from Hooper.

Their efforts were rewarded when Hooper, drifting just offside, headed the equaliser from Mulgrew's cross in the 87th minute. The match still, though, had drama to provide. In the 90th minute, Zaliukas thrashed the ball at Ledley and the ball smashed on to the midfielder's arm. Norris pointed immediately to the spot, possibly adjudging that Ledley's arms had swung out wide, increasing his body shape and so justifying his penalty decision.

Beattie converted the spot kick decisively and embarked on a shirtless run along the bank of Hearts fans behind the goal that earned him a booking as well as undying affection. There was still time, however, for Celtic to have a penalty claim denied.

The final whistle was greeted by Lennon striding towards Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager, and shaking his counterpart's hand. This was followed by the Celtic manager marching across the pitch to confront Norris. Alan Thompson, Celtic's first-team coach, confirmed later that Lennon had gone in to the referee's room for further discussion.

Anger and frustration are the price of such a defeat but Lennon will also reflect in quieter moments on the validity of his team selection. The breaking up of the Stokes-Hooper pairing is always a hostage to fortune, particularly when Georgios Samaras has one of those days when he does a convincing impression of a schoolboy looking out the window. Victor Wanyama, who came on at right-back for Lustig, was also omitted from the starting XI.

Victory renders such judgments irrelevant. Defeat makes them highly pertinent. Lennon faces a week of intense questioning and not just from the SFA.

Taken from the Herald