| Match Pictures | Matches: 1998 – 1999 | 1998-1999 Pictures |
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Trivia
- Allan MacDonald kicked into the driver’s seat and started negotiations immediately to get Larsson’s new contract done and dusted before the end of the season. Larsson had been offered a £5.00million 4 year contract. Larsson duly signed the £24k per week deal making him the best paid Celtic player in the history of the club.
- Sweden said they would release both Larsson and Mjallby from international duty freeing them up for the Rangers game on 2/5. Jackie McNamara, Paul Lambert, Craig Burley, Tom Boyd, Jonathan Gould and Vidar Riseth were all due to play for Scotland and Norway.
- Riseth came back into the team after suspension for the Cup semi final. Mjallby missed the game to try to rest a thigh injury he was carrying. Corr came on for Jonathon Gould when the goalkeeper injured his shoulder in a collision with Ritchie just before half time. Mahe was out with a hamstring injury and Donnelly was dropped.
- Following his yellow card here Tom Boyd would be ruled out for three games one of which would be the Rangers game.
- Following this game Rangers were 6 points clear going into the final six games of the season.
Review
An exciting game where the pressure was off early with two quick goals.
Teams
Hearts: Rousset, McPherson (James 45), Ritchie, Fulton, Adam, Cameron, Jackson, Locke (Murray 63), McKinnon (Guerin 77),Pressley, McSwegan.
Subs Not Used: Severin, Strang.
Goals: Adam 27, 48.
Celtic: Gould (Corr 42), Boyd , McNamara, Larsson, Burley , Lambert, Annoni, McKinlay, Blinker, Riseth, Viduka.
Subs Not Used: Brattbakk, Wieghorst, Marshall, Burchill.
Goals: Riseth 2, Blinker 7, Viduka 29, 52.
Booked: Ritchie, Cameron, Jackson, Locke (Hearts) Boyd (Celtic)
Ref: S Dougal (Burnside).
Att: 16,388
Articles
- Match Report
Celtic early strikes keep them in the hunt for title
The Herald 15/04/1999
Hearts ……… 2 Celtic ……….. 4
Celtic surged towards yet another victory last night as they swept aside a spirited challenge from Hearts that, unfortunately for the Edinburgh side, had been mounted too late.
After only eight minutes of the game, the Tynecastle team found themselves two goals behind and, on the two occasions they did score in their attempts at a comeback, they lost goals to the Glasgow side within minutes.
For Celtic, of course, it was a night that continued their remorseless run of form as they attempt to dislodge Rangers, who managed a narrow home victory over Dunfermline Athletic last night, from the top of the Scottish Premier League.
For Hearts, despite the spirit they often demonstrated, it was another defeat, another setback as they try to pull themslves away from the relegation area.
The early goals from Vidar Riseth and Regi Blinker gave Celtic both confidence and command and the manner in which they responded when Hearts gnawed away at that two-goal lead was testimony to their determination as well as their ability.
When Stephane Adam scored from a deflected free kick on 27 minutes, Mark Viduka scored Celtic's third within two minutes. Similarly, at the start of the second half, when Adam struck again, it brought another reply from the powerful Australian front man.
While Celtic lost Jonathan Gould as the game moved towards half time, they discovered that youngster Barry John Corr was up to the task of replacing the Scotland squad player. The goalkeeper was tested by Hearts on several occasions and the 16,388 fans saw him save from Colin Cameron and from Adam as Hearts pressured their opponents.
As Celtic left the field, they knew that one of their major hurdles on the run-in had been cleared, and emphatically so. They were unable to pull back Rangers' lead, but playing in this manner they can certainly continue to cut into the confidence of their Old Firm rivals and at this stage of the title race that may yet be vital, especially as the two Glasgow teams must soon face each other.
Hearts may have felt that they were enjoing a mini-revival in the Premier League after a draw against Kilmarnock and a crucial victory over Dundee United at Tannadice, but reality surfaced inside the opening eight minutes of the match.
Twice Hearts were cruelly exposed by the Parkhead team in that short time and twice the champions scored to underline once more that they are not ready to give up on the title they won last season.
The goals, when they arrived, were simple for Celtic but demonstrated the defensive frailties that have brought last year's Scottish Cup winners to their current flirtation with the first division.
The first goal, for example, came from a Regi Blinker corner out on the left, after the power of Mark Viduka had forced the flag kick.
When the ball swung into goal, Vidar Riseth had moved upfield, away from any defensive duties, and the Tynecastle team seemed oblivious to his presence in their penalty box until he rose and powered a header beyond Gilles Rouset and into the net.
Hearts attempted to recover with a shot from Darren Jackson that flew wide, but in the eighth minute they lost another goal.
This time Tosh McKinlay crossed from that left flank and the defence tried to scramble the ball clear but failed to do so. It reached the revitalised Blinker and his shot beat Rousset and the Celtic fans were celebrating as the home support sat stunned.
There was little respite for the Hearts defenders and then suddenly, out of nothing, the Edinburgh side pulled back a goal after Craig Burley stopped Colin Cameron with a strong tackle and a free kick was awarded.
Jackson pushed the free kick to Steve Fulton, who teed it up for Stephane Adam. The Frenchman shot from 25 yards, the ball struck McKinlay in the defensive wall and took a wicked spin out of Jonathan Gould's reach and into the net. That was in 27 minutes.
However, any hopes Hearts might have had of staging a comeback lasted just two minutes more after Viduka broke forward into the penalty box onto a Larsson pass. Rob McKinnon played the burly Australian onside and, as the other Hearts defenders waited for the linesman's flag, Viduka struck the ball past Rousset to restore the two-goal lead.
Celtic had been easily the better team, but somehow Hearts hung on in there and, before half time, when Gould was injured in a clash with Jackson, there was another glimmer of hope as Celtic were forced to give youngster Barry John Corr his first-team debut.
Before half time, the goalkeeper saved at the post from Gary McSwegan, but while he survived that, he could not stop Adam snatching his second goal of the game with a vicious, low angled drive from a McSwegan pass in the forty-seventh minute.
Again, though, the flicker of hope was extingished four minutes afterwards when McKinlay surged down the left and sent a cross into goal. Viduka reached it at the neat post and touched it into goal with Rousset unable to stop the ball.
- Manager Interview
"It was exciting and it was a very good beginning, and I think we were in control of the game after that, but there was a real challenge from Hearts."
Pictures
Stats
| Hearts | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 4 | 1 |
| Fouls | 18 | 9 |
| Shots on Target | 7 | 10 |
| Corners | 2 | 10 |
| Offside | 1 | 3 |