2014-09-24: Celtic 3-0 Hearts, League Cup

Match Pictures | Matches: 2014 – 2015 | 2014-15 Pictures

Trivia

• League Cup
• Hearts are actually now in the second tier having been relegated last season, so big game for them.
• Celtic to play in next round v Partick, getting close to match v the Huns.
• Guidetti gets his debut goal. Seems to be warming to the support.
• Tonev given benefit of the doubt, and played in the match despite the allegations and charge on him by SFA over racial abuse.
• Lee Griffiths continues to be rumoured to be heading to Hibs on loan. Unused substitute today.
• Scotland returning to normal after Referendum madness last week. However SNP has become the UK's third largest party by membership.
• Ex-Celt John Divers sadly passed away. One minute silence held in his honour (plus black armbands) and for that of a Hearts fan who died soon after a match the weekend before. RIP

Review

(Adam Smith 11 of KDs)
From memory:

3 Scored
2 Disallowed (Both correct but close calls in fact if Tonev wasn't there that one may have gone in anyway)
1 Unbelievable Save From Their Keeper In The Fist Half
2 Goal Line Clearances
1 One On One With Keeper That Should Have Been Scored
7 Or 8 Times Got To The Bye Line At Least And Either Careless Or Unlucky With Cut Backs

2 Individual errors gave them there only 2 real chances.

5 games undefeated.

I'm prepared to say that there are some green shoots, 90% of our chances came down the one side so maybe when Lustig / AM / JF return we can get a better balance.

The quadruple is still on.

The aggressive optimists strike back!

(henrimd of KDS)
I was pleased with this. We seemd fragile defensively for the first ten minutes. After that they had two chance down to individual errors, which has little to do with how the team is progressing. Going forward we were direct and constantly dangerous, even though if was much down one side. Guidetti did well, nice to have a striker who likes to be on line with their last defender again. I'm actually quite positive to playing Commons behind Guidetti if the latter plays like yesterday, in that case Commons can stay in the area behind Guidetti and take shots. Liked Stokes on the left as well, gives him the possibility to use his quality on the ball.

In total a very pleasant night.

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Stats

Celtic Heart of Midlothian

Possession
39% 61%
90mins
Shots
13 9
On target
7 0
Corners
10 9
Fouls
18 8

Articles

Celtic 3-0 Hearts: Tactical Analysis
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/celtic-3-0-hearts-tactical-analysis-1-3553984
by CRAIG FOWLER

Published on the 26 September
2014
11:10
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CELTIC manager Ronny Deila was pleased with his side’s overall performance, saying they were “worth the win” against their Championship opponents in Wednesday’s League Cup tie.

The Scottish champions certainly looked much stronger than they did in Sunday’s dismal draw with Motherwell, but there is little doubt that his team benefited from Hearts mistakes at one end and wastefulness at the other. Celtic were excellent in some moments and capable of creating chances from numerous sources; guilty of completely switching off at others.

The latter can also be said of the visitors. Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson came with a gameplan that worked very well over the piece. The problem was the amount of mental mistakes made by individuals in what is still a relatively young Hearts side. Celtic’s quality may still have shone through, but there’s little doubt it would have been a much tighter match had the away side managed to execute some football basics.

Hearts bright start

For the opening 12 minutes of the match it’s no stretch to suggest that Hearts were the better team. Neilson had insisted that they would play their passing game and that’s just what they did in the opening exchanges. Using Prince Buaben as the team’s fulcrum, the visitors patiently passed the ball from side to side, their players moving into the open space whenever they could find it. A Jamie Walker shot deflected behind for a corner was preceded by a nine pass move that cut through the Celtic team with surprising ease.

The Edinburgh side also sprinkled in some direct play aimed at utilising the pace of Osman Sow behind Celtic’s pushed-up backline. Three times in the opening ten minutes Hearts connected on defence-to-striker balls which Sow either gathered and laid off for a teammate or used to attack the Celtic backline. There was another occasion when Craig Gordon had to be quick off his line to prevent the striker from tearing through in a one-on-one situation with the Celtic stopper.

It made Hearts a threat with or without the ball and when Jason Denayer fortunately managed to deflect a Callum Paterson cross away from the goal he was facing, Celtic appeared to be on the ropes. Of course, Deila’s side were always going to respond and Hearts would later rue the inability to score a knockdown while they were on top.

Celtic turn it on

The move building to the Denayer deflection saw another nine passes completed by the underdogs, with Buaben touching the ball four times throughout the move. In a team filled with specialised parts, Buaben had the ambigious role of involving himself in the play, whenever he could, at either end of the park. However, it wasn’t long before the experienced and excellent Celtic duo of Stefan Johansen and captain Scott Brown sussed out the strength of their opponents, and they spent the next 30 minutes crowding Prince whenever he even looked willing to receive a pass. With Buaben unable to turn with the ball it soon went back to the centre backs who had started the move and they were left with little alternative to hoist it upfield. The Celtic defenders at this point had also become wary of Sow’s threat, and did a much better job at challenging the initial ball and sweeping up the debris whenever it went near the big Swede.

Having been woken out of their early slumber, Celtic began dominating possession and moving with intent into the Hearts half. The difference in quality between the two sides in the final third had already become evident in the sixth minute when Anthony Stokes fired a shot inches wide after drifting into the space left by Morgaro Gomis whose job in the defensive midfielder role appeared to be denying Kris Commons at all costs. The supporting attackers from Hearts didn’t have the capability or confidence to produce something out of nothing, at least not in this particular match.

On 15 minutes we got our first glimpse that Hearts were not fit mentally to defeat Celtic on the night. An overhit through ball from Darren McGregor should have been easily cleared by defender Alim Ozturk. Instead the Dutch defender of Turkish descent tried to shepherd the ball back to keeper Neil Alexander, but he was too far from the custodian and allowed John Guidetti a free shot at goal, which the Swede wastefully put wide.

Even though he was being closely guarded by Gomis, Commons was still impacting the play and becoming the hosts’ biggest threat. His slip through pass on 16 minutes put Guidetti through on the right channel and the striker’s back post cross had to be cleared by Paterson. Three minutes later he got away a front post shot after splitting the back four with Gomis in close attendance. Only another two minutes had passed before he was involved again. This time he ghosted up to the front-line alongside Guidetti, curved his run ever so slightly to spring through the gap between Danny Wilson and left-back Adam Eckersley, and was only stopped when three Hearts defenders converged on him at the edge of the six yard area.

Celtic’s dominance on the left

Celtic’s opening goal had very little to do with Commons but it did come through a bountiful source the hosts would keep returning to with great reward. Prior to the match Neilson had surprised the Hearts supporters, and even the BBC graphics department, by starting Dale Carrick on the right and Sam Nicholson in the centre. With Paterson the weakest part of the visiting back defensively, and Emilio Izaguirre always a threat on the overlap, Neilson decided he preferred Carrick’s tremendous work rate and superior strength to Nicholson’s abilities as an attacking threat on the wing. If that was his plan it backfired tremendously. Paterson and Carrick, in particular, were routinely burned by the Celtic duo of Izaguirre and Stokes, though similar struggles for Nicholson in the position later in the match would suggest that Neilson was beaten either way.

The Hooped pair had combined in the sixth minute to send over a teasing ball to the back post that Eckersley, who looked good aside from his howler later in the match, managed to clear. However, it wouldn’t be until the 24th minute that they committed to attacking down that side, and from the move they found the opening goal. This time Izaguirre, going against Paterson instead of the more slow footed Carrick, decided to whip in an early ball. The cross was a good one, but it should have been comfortably dealt with by the Hearts defence and cleared for a corner. Instead, Wilson inexplicably headed the ball directly behind him despite going against his body momentum, and could only watch as Guidetti buried the ball into the back of the net off the inside of the post.

Two minutes later Stokes and Izaguirre (Izastokesy?) were at it again. Their initial give and go failed, so they just tried it again, managing to win a corner. From the set-piece an instinctive deflection towards goal from Guidetti had to be cleared off the line. Hearts then survived a similar scare on 33 minutes when Izaguirre, again beating Carrick, saw his cross almost turned into the net by Gomis. Neil Alexander managed to pull off a fine save to spare his teammate’s blushes.

Hearts beat themselves

Despite being starved of the ball for quite some time, Hearts kept their spirits up and finished the half the stronger of the sides. They gave their opponents another reminder of Sow’s danger as the striker took a direct ball on the left channel and his switched pass for Nicholson would have put the youngster through on goal but for a crucial intervention from Brown. Then, out of nowhere, Hearts should have been level.

Steven Thompson, in his job as BBC analyst, called Walker’s shot that crashed off the bar ‘unlucky’. That may be true to an extent, but every player going through one-on-one with the goalkeeper should be able to tuck the chance away without good fortune coming into the equation.

The visitors could have been forgiven for thinking that was their best opportunity to get back into the match. But if they did, they didn’t allow the miss to affect their concentration in the opening minutes of the second half. Like they had for the final 20 minutes of the first, Celtic moved the ball from side to side, probing for an opening. Hearts, on this occasion, wouldn’t allow it. They kept narrow in their shape and held Celtic at a distance.

Having survived the wave, they pushed forward once more and won a penalty with their first attack – the less said about the better. Sow, the player guilty of an extraordinary miss, was obviously still reeling from his sky high attempt in the minute that followed because he was easily bullied off the ball by Virgil van Dijk and the next time he touched the ball Hearts were 2-0 down. Ozturk was the guilty party this time as the centre back almost careered through Guidetti in a penalty box ‘shoulder charge’.

Dead rubber contest

The match was over at this point but that didn’t wane Celtic’s enthusiasm for scoring goals, something we’ve witnessed a couple of times already in the Deila era. Relentlessly attacking the Hearts right side, one goal was produced via Stokes’s cross that was chested into his own net by Eckersley, and several near misses followed where the final delivery of Izaguirre didn’t quite mirror the quality he produced earlier in the match.

Hearts, to their credit, didn’t allow themselves to be humiliated in the same manner Dundee United were back in August. While they had no answer to Izaguirre, they still successfully rebuffed every threat through the centre, though they earned their first slice of luck on the night when Stefan Scepovic’s shot looked to be going in before it hit his teammate Aleksandar Tonev in an offside position.

BBC
By Colin Moffat BBC Scotland

Celtic eased into the last eight of the League Cup with victory over Hearts, who were made to pay for poor defending and wasting a couple of golden chances.

John Guidetti thrashed in the opening goal on 24 minutes during a period of Celtic dominance.

Either side of half-time, Jamie Walker hit the crossbar for Hearts and Osman Sow missed the target with a penalty.

Kris Commons then converted from the spot and Adam Eckersley knocked in an own goal from an Anthony Stokes cross.

Manager Ronny Deila chose a strong side for a tournament Celtic have not won since 2009, with Commons returning along with skipper Scott Brown, Craig Gordon and Stefan Johansen.
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Interview – Celtic manager Ronny Deila

Stokes drilled an early shot narrowly wide for the hosts but it was Hearts, flying high at the top of the Championship, who settled into the more assured rhythm.

The visitors won three corners in quick succession, with only a lunging interception from Jason Denayer denying Sow a tap-in from Callum Paterson's low delivery.

Hearts defender Alim Ozturk then made a terrible mess of shielding the ball in his own penalty area, expecting Neil Alexander to gather and leaving Guidetti with just the goalkeeper to beat but the Swede swiped wide of the target.

Suddenly it was Celtic who were in the ascendancy and Paterson needed to block a Stokes effort, Denayer scuffed a shot into Alexander's arms and Commons also had a low shot saved.

Alexander did well to push away a thunderous 18-yard strike from Brown but the 36-year-old was soon beaten.

Emilio Izaguirre delivered a great, deep cross from the left and Hearts skipper Danny Wilson could only divert the ball into the path of Guidetti, who thumped the ball home from 10 yards via the post for his first goal since joining on loan from Manchester City.

Guidetti almost had a second goal when he diverted a low shot from Callum McGregor. Alexander was deceived but Eckersley was on the line to clear.

With Celtic now in control, another excellent Izaguirre delivery flashed across goal to cannon off the shins of Morgaro Gomis and it needed an instinctive save from Alexander to prevent an own goal.
Kris Commons cracked in a penalty for Celtic

Kris Commons drilled home a penalty for Celtic on 57 minutes

Hearts were presented with a fantastic opportunity on the stroke of half time as an errant pass from Stokes allowed Walker to race in behind the Celtic defence. The midfielder cracked a shot beyond Gordon from the edge of the penalty area only to see it hammer back off the crossbar.

An even better chance came the Edinburgh side's way early in the second half when referee Willie Collum pointed to the spot as Sow toppled under pressure from Virgil van Dijk.

Sow's fall appeared to owe more to his own clumsiness but the striker could not profit from the gift and blazed an appalling penalty high over the crossbar.

Just moments later, Commons showed Sow how to score from 12 yards, lashing the ball low into the corner following Ozturk's overly robust shoulder charge on Guidetti.

And the game slipped beyond Hearts' reach on the hour when Eckersley chose to use his chest to cushion a Stokes cross and inadvertently steered the ball into his own net from six yards.

Alexander needed to save close-range efforts from Stokes and Izaguirre, who was a menace down the left flank all evening.

The Honduras full-back cut into the penalty area with 10 minutes remaining but his shot from a tight angle did not match his earlier good work.

Aleksandar Tonev had earlier touched in a shot from fellow substitute Stefan Scepovic from an offside position but could not make amends as his late shot fizzed just wide.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila: "I'm very pleased, I think we're going in the right direction all the time now.

"What I'm most pleased about is two things. One we worked as a team, eleven players who wanted to win the ball and work together.

"And two we are started to create something on the sides.

"I think it's important to keep consistency in the team because if you change too much as I've done twice then we haven't played well and I can understand why."

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson: "I thought the game hinged on the penalty.

"We went 1-0 down but still stayed strong. We miss the penalty and the game totally changed from there, they go up the park and get a penalty and it's very difficult when the crowd starts getting behind them, the atmosphere changes and they start getting confidence.

"I'm pleased with the performance overall. Disappointed with the result – at the end of the day the league's the main thing for us and gear up now for Sunday."

Live Text Commentary
Full time

Full Time Match ends, Celtic 3, Heart of Midlothian 0.
90:00 +2:17 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Celtic 3, Heart of Midlothian 0.
90:00 +1:17

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Efe Ambrose.
89:31

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
89:31

Prince Buaben (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
88:26

Attempt missed. Aleksandar Tonev (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
88:14

Attempt blocked. Anthony Stokes (Celtic) right footed shot from long range on the left is blocked.
86:00

Attempt blocked. Soufian El Hassnaoui (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
85:46 Booking

Booking Soufian El Hassnaoui (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card.
85:42

Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
85:42

Foul by Soufian El Hassnaoui (Heart of Midlothian).
85:14 Booking

Booking Eoghan O'Connell (Celtic) is shown the yellow card.
85:08

Foul by Eoghan O'Connell (Celtic).
85:08

James Keatings (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
82:38

Hand ball by Soufian El Hassnaoui (Heart of Midlothian).
77:21 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. James Keatings replaces Jamie Walker.
77:15 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Soufian El Hassnaoui replaces Osman Sow.
76:16

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Stefan Johansen.
74:19

Foul by Anthony Stokes (Celtic).
74:19

Callum Paterson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
73:42

Attempt saved. Aleksandar Tonev (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
71:43 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Celtic. Aleksandar Tonev replaces Callum McGregor.
66:59

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Morgaro Gomis.
65:49

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
65:49

Prince Buaben (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
63:31 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Celtic. Stefan Scepovic replaces John Guidetti.
63:13 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Jason Holt replaces Dale Carrick.
60:49 Goal scored

Goal! Own Goal by Adam Eckersley, Heart of Midlothian. Celtic 3, Heart of Midlothian 0.
56:23 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Celtic 2, Heart of Midlothian 0. Kris Commons (Celtic) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.
55:47 Booking

Booking Alim Ozturk (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card.
55:38

Penalty Celtic. Anthony Stokes draws a foul in the penalty area.
55:38

Penalty conceded by Alim Ozturk (Heart of Midlothian) after a foul in the penalty area.
54:27

Penalty missed! Bad penalty by Osman Sow (Heart of Midlothian) left footed shot is too high. Osman Sow should be disappointed.
53:46

Penalty conceded by Virgil van Dijk (Celtic) after a foul in the penalty area.
53:46

Penalty Heart of Midlothian. Osman Sow draws a foul in the penalty area.
53:13

Foul by Stefan Johansen (Celtic).
53:13

Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
51:18

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Sam Nicholson.
50:58

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Callum Paterson.
49:35

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Adam Eckersley.
48:04

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Stefan Johansen.
47:29

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Efe Ambrose.
47:07

Foul by Stefan Johansen (Celtic).
47:07

Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
46:28

Foul by Kris Commons (Celtic).
46:28

Morgaro Gomis (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
45:15

Attempt missed. Anthony Stokes (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
45:04 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Celtic. Eoghan O'Connell replaces Jason Denayer.
45:00

Second Half begins Celtic 1, Heart of Midlothian 0.
45:00 +1:06 Half time

Half Time First Half ends, Celtic 1, Heart of Midlothian 0.
45:00 +0:40

Attempt missed. Prince Buaben (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
45:00 +0:17

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
45:00 +0:17

Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
44:36

Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) hits the bar with a right footed shot from the centre of the box.
43:11

Foul by Jason Denayer (Celtic).
43:11

Osman Sow (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
41:44

Anthony Stokes (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
41:44

Foul by Dale Carrick (Heart of Midlothian).
37:55

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
37:55

Morgaro Gomis (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
37:36

Foul by Callum McGregor (Celtic).
37:36

Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
35:52

John Guidetti (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
35:52

Foul by Callum Paterson (Heart of Midlothian).
33:51

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Alim Ozturk.
31:43

Foul by Stefan Johansen (Celtic).
31:43

Morgaro Gomis (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
31:24

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Dale Carrick.
30:31

Scott Brown (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
30:31

Foul by Prince Buaben (Heart of Midlothian).
29:49

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Jason Denayer.
29:00

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Efe Ambrose.
27:02

Attempt blocked. Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
26:08

Foul by John Guidetti (Celtic).
26:08

Danny Wilson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
24:53

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Dale Carrick.
23:05 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Celtic 1, Heart of Midlothian 0. John Guidetti (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
21:50

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Adam Eckersley.
21:36

Attempt saved. Scott Brown (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
20:45

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Danny Wilson.
18:51

Attempt saved. Kris Commons (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
16:48

Foul by Scott Brown (Celtic).
16:48

Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
16:21

Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
16:21

Foul by Callum Paterson (Heart of Midlothian).
15:54

Attempt saved. Jason Denayer (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
15:33

Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Callum Paterson.
15:26

Attempt blocked. Anthony Stokes (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
14:24

Attempt missed. John Guidetti (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
13:00

Anthony Stokes (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
12:58

Foul by Callum Paterson (Heart of Midlothian).
12:02

Attempt missed. Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from long range on the left is high and wide to the right.
11:47

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Virgil van Dijk.
10:59

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Jason Denayer.
10:46

Attempt blocked. Alim Ozturk (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
10:04

Corner, Heart of Midlothian. Conceded by Stefan Johansen.
9:54

Attempt blocked. Jamie Walker (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
8:29

Attempt saved. John Guidetti (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
7:12

Foul by Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic).
7:12

Dale Carrick (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
6:04

Foul by Efe Ambrose (Celtic).
6:04

Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
5:40

Attempt missed. Scott Brown (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
4:25

Attempt missed. Alim Ozturk (Heart of Midlothian) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
3:12 Booking

Booking Jason Denayer (Celtic) is shown the yellow card.
3:00

Osman Sow (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
2:58

Foul by Jason Denayer (Celtic).
0:00

First Half begins.
0:00

Lineups are announced and players are warming up.

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