Hoops ease past Hearts in style

By: Laura Brannan on 19 Jan, 2013 16:55

January 19, 2013
Scottish Premier League
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC 4
(Hooper 2, 86, Samaras 12, Lassad 90+1)

HEARTS 1
(Holt 69)

CELTIC marked their return to competitive action after the winter break with a comfortable 4-1 victory at home to Hearts. A Gary Hooper double, with a goal at the beginning and end of the match, was sandwiched by a first-half Georgios Samaras goal. Lassad then joined in with an injury-time strike.

Hearts came back into the game shortly after the hour mark when Jason Holt´s effort deflected off Charlie Mulgrew, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference on the final result.

Neil Lennon had made four changes to the side which beat Motherwell before the winter break. Lukasz Zalsuka replaced the injured Fraser Forster in goal while Efe Ambrose missed out due to international duty at the Africa Nations Cup. Kelvin Wilson started his two-match suspension and Beram Kayal dropped to the bench as Scott Brown, Mikael Lustig and Joe Ledley returned to the side.

There was also a return to the squad for Anthony Stokes who was making his first competitive appearance on the bench after missing the last five months through injury.

Following a moving minute´s applause in memory of Celtic legend Sean Fallon, who sadly passed away on Friday, the match got underway with a goal after just 90 seconds.

Adam Matthews made a fantastic charge down the right flank, attempted a one-two and latched on to the ball when it hit off a Hearts defender. Inside the box he played it across the face of goal where Hooper was waiting a couple of yards out to slot it home.

And 10 minutes later Celtic doubled their lead with a similar attack. This time it was Kris Commons who made the run down the right channel, and after squaring it for Samaras, the Greek knocked it into the back of the net.

Matthews then made another great run down the right, but his cross into the box was collected by Jamie MacDonald before Samaras could latch on to the end of it.

Hearts tried to push up the pitch the further the first half progressed but Celtic remained dominant and Commons came close to adding a third eight minutes before the break. He tried to curl the ball around MacDonald but there wasn’t enough on his shot.

And then just seconds later Hooper beat the offside trap. MacDonald blocked his shot but Ledley latched on to the rebound. He couldn’t make the turn on goal quick enough, though, and Darren Barr blocked his effort.

Hearts introduced Jamie Walker after the break and he immediately pushed forward, weaving through the Celtic defence but Zaluska did well to collect his effort. And at the opposite end Hooper had the ball in the back of the net almost immediately, but he was ruled offside.

There was a series of crisp one-touche passes between Samaras and Hooper just after the hour mark which set up Ledley, but a wonderful save by MacDonald denied the Welshman.

Emilio Izaguirre then sent a good cross to the back post for Samaras on 69 minutes but as he headed it down for Hooper, MacDonald was first to the ball.

And at the opposite end, almost immediately, Heats got back into the game. From the break, John Sutton played in Holt and his effort deflected off Mulgrew and cruelly curled beyond Zaluska.

Celtic kept their heads high, though, and continued to search for a third goal, and they found it four minutes from the end, from another run down the right flank. This time it was Brown who threaded the ball through the Hearts defence and played in Hooper. The striker fired home his second of the evening and 20th goal of the season, sealing the victory in the process.

And there was still more to come for the home side, as substitute Lassad struck a fourth inside injury-time. Izaguirre provided the cross to the back post and the Tunisian striker slammed home his third goal of the season.

CELTIC (4-4-2): Zaluska; Matthews (Lassad 77), Lustig, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Brown, Wanyama, Ledley (Kayal 67), Samaras; Commons (Rogne 84), Hooper
Subs not used: Thomson, Gershon, McGeouch, Stokes

HEARTS (4-4-2): MacDonald, Barr, Webster, Wilson, McHattie; McGowan (Tapping 72), Taouil (Carrick 86); Paterson (Walker 46), Holt, Driver; Sutton
Subs not used: Ridgers, Smith, Prychynenko, Novikovas

Website man of the match: Gary Hooper