Hearts 0-4 Celtic: Hearts outplayed as Lennon sets out lop-sided

Celtic ended a pretty dismal run of domestic form to go top of the SPL after a convincing win over a ragged Hearts team. A flurry of goals in the middle of the first half decided the outcome of the match, though the hosts fought hard to keep the match competitive. There were one or two scares with Frazer Forster in amazing form to prevent any hope of a comeback, but the match was won before the goalkeeper was called into action.

Celtic Lineup

There still hasn’t been much room for squad rotation to alleviate the physical pressures of fighting on four fronts. Lassad Nouinoui was the biggest selection surprise coming in for Tony Watt, and after impressive moments against Aberdeen and then Inverness Caley, fully warranted a start.

But elsewhere there have been varying levels of fitness worries over a whole host of players: Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley, Mikael Lustig, Kris Commons, Charlie Mulgrew and Kelvin Wilson. And on the bench Scott Brown, Adam Matthews, Georgios Samaras and Dyland McGeouch haven’t had much luck lately.

More surprising still was the shape of the team – harking back to the old “lop-sided” 4-4-2 so often highlighted on this blog which Neil Lennon appeared to all but abandon. But the strengths have always been apparent – effectively 3 combative central midfielders with room for a creative player like Commons, and two strikers.

Hearts Lineup

Hearts having only conceded 1 goal in the past three matches were in reasonable form, but mired in financial trouble it seemed the squad selection may have been governed by costs more than anything else.

Full-backs Danny Grainger and Jamie Hammill were the main injury blows, but no room could be found in the side for seasoned SPL players like Andy Driver, John Sutton, Mehdi Taouil or Arvydas Novikovas.

Instead it was a young lineup, with Kevin McHattie covering Grainger at left-back and relatively unknown quantities Jamie Walker and Jason Holt coming in to the attacking “3″ band, of John McGlynn’s default 4-2-3-1.

Lassad helps inspire Celtic blitz

Lennon was keen to reinvigorate his stuttering Celtic side, and from the outset there was a notable difference in mentality. But Hearts were equally fired-up, making for quite a frenzied opening to match the atmosphere.

A reasonable criticism levelled recently against Celtic has been their stodgy predictability, with a fairly unchanged front-line for the past few seasons – Hooper, Commons and Samaras have been plugging away over the course of the past three seasons. Lassad (and Miku and Watt to a lesser extent) have provided different options, with the Tunisian in particular coming across as having a different mindset – avoiding the obvious, and making smart attacking decisions.

The first goal wasn’t a particularly decent example of this, but clever movement and a brilliant finish nonetheless. Heart’s inexperienced left-back McHattie tracked the run of Kayal – bearing in mind Kayal was a pseudo-central midfielder – leaving a ginormous gap. Zaliukas failed to keep an eye on Lassad, who swept in Commons’ looping cross expertly.

The second goal was a better example of this “alternative” thinking, peeling off to the right, working well with Lustig to again take advantage of McHattie’s heedless marking. Lassad’s cross was patient and considered, with Lustig able to tap-in after Hearts failed to clear.

Competition over but Hearts still prickly / Lustig overlaps

After the third, with the match as a competition drawing to a close, Lustig’s influence was becoming clear at right-back. With Kayal tucking in, Lustig essentially had the freedom (or burden?) of the right flank, putting in an enormous shift. Here it’s all about decisions – at a base, cautious level happy to sit back, rest and keepan eye on his opposite number – but he knows that he’s got more stamina in the tank, so when the opportunity arises likes to surge forward.

It was the same in the last match against Inverness, and clear with the second goal against Hearts.

Hearts chances / Fraser Forster

Despite the scoreline, Hearts were prickly throughout: at worst attempting to sway the ref with pallid histrionics, but at the other end of the scale creating chances and testing Forster to the limit.

Callum Paterson should’ve done better with a header early on, and Hearts were dominating the corner count quite dramatically. Uncharacteristically it took Celtic 90 mintues to win their first, while Hearts ended with 7 albeit ineffective.

Another peculiar area that Hearts took advantage of, was the gaps in Forster’s wall at central direct free-kicks. Forster split the wall, either 3 and 1 or 4 and 1, with the spare presumably meant to cover a wider “surface” while providing a gap for the goalkeeper’s vision.

But the negatives seemed to outweigh the goods, with Hearts designated set-piece takers having turns pummelling the ball through this gap. Ryan Stevenson in particular drew a flustered save, which then turned into a headed chance for Zaliukas. In reality, Hearts should’ve scored (which is damning of the wall situation) but Forster was magnificent, pulling out outstanding blocks.

By the end Forster also made a fantastic save from Zaliukas’ late penalty – underlining his part to play in keeping the gap at 4.

Conclusion

As pointed out by Gordon Strachan in the half-time analysis, Celtic’s main strength was in the centre of midfield. In Victor Wanyama, Joe Ledley and Beram Kayal, there were 3 rock-solid, if unspectacular workhorses battling away. The rest was left to the likes of Commons, Lustig barrelling down the right and Lassad, who were all particularly impressive.

Some might point to Forster’s brilliant contribution as an argument that the game should’ve been closer. But in truth before the third goal Hearts’ chances were minimal, and Celtic stepped off the gas, slightly inviting Hearts back into the match.

It was just the application that Lennon demanded after a poor run, but still with a daunting December schedule ahead, there’s still the suspicion that the squad is still too thin in certain areas.