| Match Pictures | Matches: 2018 – 2019 | 2018-19 Pictures |
Trivia
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Brendan Rodgers resigned as manager
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Brendan Rodgers sharply left Celtic day before and moved to Leicester City, taking various staff with him.
- Big surprise and taking various staff with him.
- Huge ramifications for Celtic especially in this time of the title campaign, although had been rumoured for a long time.
- Mentally & emotionally draining, but what a result with Celtic defeating Hearts. It’s been a traumatic last 36 hours & due to that the only thing that mattered was to get the 3 points.The trauma has affected everyone from supporters to players & a major well done to all
- Brendan Rodgers revealed the day before that he has now been given permission to talk to Leicester City for the vacant managerial spot. Very disappointing to hear, especially wrt timing.
- Neil Lennon brought in as interim manager, another surprise, with John Kennedy to assist.
- John Kennedy turned down option to move to Leicester and remained at Celtic as did Stevie Woods (goalkeeper coach).
- Banner at the game: "Brendan Rodgers departure. ‘You traded immortality for mediocrity: never a Celt, always a fraud’
- Midweek game
- Celtic on top of the league, still 8pts ahead but Sevco catching up on goal difference
- Ten league games to go after this one; Celtic need to win 8 games to confirm title.
- Brendan Rodgers reported to be a key target for Leicester City for new manager; ex-Celtic manager Neil Lennon said to be possibly to become their caretaker manager till the summer.
Review
"I couldn't have wrote the script any better."
Neil Lennon on his first game back in charge at Celtic
Neil Lennon: "It was a great feeling, a great moment and a nice way to win the game"
"I think we overplay a little bit too much." "We just need to get the ball forward a little bit quicker because we've got players who can hurt teams." Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon: "It was a great feeling, a great moment and a nice way to win the game"
Neil Lennon quote ‘I have big shoes to fill’ the Lenny I know will fill them with his eyes shut
'I'm not as volatile – I wanted to take on the world the last time I was Celtic manager' – Neil Lennon has changed on his return to Celtic Park
Broony “It’s been a difficult past couple of days. We lost a fantastic manager and we now push on with another fantastic manager”.
(JoeBloggsCity of TheCelticWiki)
Up stepped Scott Brown who was excellent in the game and floated a perfect pass to Edouard behind the defensive lines in the box to boot the ball into the back of the net in injury time and send the fans into raptures! Excellent result but again another late result for Celtic, with even Hearts manager Levein conceding about Celtic and late goals etc.
(Italiabhoy of KDS)
The more you think about it, the more amazing a result that was.
Tynecastle. Horrible place. Difficult to play settled football. Home team in decent form.
Brother of a former NI-loving Rangers player as ref.
No Tam. No Ntcham.
No Christie or CalMac. Or Leigh.
No Benkovic, and no Brendan.
That's a massive win, total credit to the players.
(EjT of KDS forum)
We’ve had a hell of a run of away games.
Motherwell
Hibs
Aberdeen
Rangers
St Johnstone
Kilmarnock
Hearts
We’ve scraped late wins in 4 of the last 5 of them.
Don’t have to go back to Tynecastle or Rugby Park.
Guess who does?
A great win.
Teams
Hearts
1Zlamal
26Godinho Substituted forDikamonaat 85'minutes
4Souttar
6Berra
25BrandonBooked at 44mins; sent off 44mins
8Lee
5HaringBooked at 13mins
10Sutchuin-DjoumBooked at 33mins
14NaismithBooked at 43mins Substituted forBozanicat 45'minutes
9Clare
19Ikpeazu Substituted forVanecekat 80'minutes
Substitutes
3Shaughnessy
7Bozanic
13Doyle
20Cochrane
28Dikamona
32Vanecek
35Keena
Goals
- Bozanic (56' minutes pen)
Celtic
29Bain
2ToljanBooked at 75mins Substituted forLustigat 86'minutes
20Boyata
35Ajer
63Tierney
8BrownBooked at 35mins
6Bitton
49Forrest
52Henderson Substituted forEdouardat 62'minutes
11Sinclair Substituted forWeahat 81'minutes
25Burke
Substitutes
1Gordon
4Hendry
15Hayes
22Edouard
23Lustig
30Weah
73Johnston
- Forrest (36' minutes),
- Edouard (90'+2 minutes)
Referee:Steven McLean
Attendance: 18,258
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
MOTM
- Voting Thread
- Result Thread
- Winner –
Stats
Home Team Hearts
Away Team Celtic
Possession
Home37%
Away63%
Shots
Home6
Away16
Shots on Target
Home3
Away7
Corners
Home4
Away5
Fouls
Home17
Away13
Articles
Hearts 1-2 Celtic: Edouard late show seals win for Neil Lennon on Hoops return
Alan Pattullo
Published: 22:19 Wednesday 27 February 2019
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/hearts-1-2-celtic-edouard-late-show-seals-win-for-neil-lennon-on-hoops-return-1-4880833
Celtic, with or without Brendan Rodgers, remain serial champions and it is nights like this that demonstrate why.
Hit by considerable upheaval on the eve of one of the trickiest assignments on the fixture card they scored a winner in added time to secure a valuable win in Neil Lennon’s first match back in charge.
Their cause was certainly helped by Hearts being reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time after 21-year-old full back Jamie Brandon, making his first start in a year, was red carded for a reckless flying elbow that struck opposite man Jeremy Toljan on the side of the head. But a penalty scored by substitute Ollie Bozanic, after Kristoffer Ajer took down Arnaud Djoum, brought Hearts level ten minutes into the second-half.
Dropping two points against opponents reduced to ten men for more than half the game could only be interpreted as a setback but Lennon avoided this fate.
He might even take some credit for the outcome having sent match winner Edouard on for Ewan Henderson, who was just 13 when Lennon was last in charge of Celtic, shortly after the hour mark.
It was a sickening conclusion for the home team, who had conceded the opener against the run of play. While Rodgers and Lennon were the figures at the forefront of most people’s minds it was crafty Craig Levein whose game management helped Hearts to within sight of an unlikely point. But then Scott Brown picked out Edouard on the edge of the six-yard box and the striker side-footed into the net to send the previously subdued away fans into raptures.
Lennon, too, momentarily failed to control his emotions and wheeled onto the pitch although there was no aeroplane gesture on this occasion. He has already firmly usurped Rodgers in the Celtic supporters’ affections.
Some away fans made their feelings clear before kick-off when unravelling a banner that left no room for misinterpretation: “You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt. Always a fraud.”
Lennon took his place in the dugout and watched the kind of rumbustious opening he will be familiar with from Edinburgh derbies, the last of which played at this venue saw him felled by a coin thrown by a supporter. There was, if anything, even more intensity to the occasion and, after an even opening, Hearts began to pin Celtic back with two chances falling for them in quick succession from corners midway through the first-half.
First Sean Clare connected first time with Olly Lee’s corner and sent a volley towards Scott Bain’s far post with the ‘keeper tipping superbly round the post. From a corner on the other side Uche Ikpeazu headed just over.
Steven Naismith was as busy as ever and created a chance for himself after robbing the dithering Dedryck Boyata around 25 yards from goal. Under considerable pressure from the fretting Boyata he sent his shot wide. When Brown was booked for upending Peter Haring it emphasised the feeling Hearts were rattling Celtic.
But as so often happens, the dominant side proved vulnerable to a quick break from the opposition. There is no side better for racing up the park than Celtic, whose front three of Scott Sinclair, Burke and James Forrest caught Hearts out after 36 minutes. Sinclair did the hard yards up the left wing with the ball at his feet before he squared for Burke, who took the unselfish decision to transfer the ball wide to Forrest when he could have taken a shot on himself. It proved the right choice since it removed goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal from the equation: Forrest had made good ground to tap the ball into an empty net for the first goal of the latest Lennon era.
Worse was to follow for Hearts when they were reduced to ten men shortly afterwards. Brandon did not even make half-time after he charged into Toljan with his elbow up in a bid to win a Scott Bain kick-out. It was reckless certainly but referee Steven McLean made no allowances for the player’s inexperience and ordered him to take the short journey down the tunnel.
Celtic's new interim manager Neil Lennon is unveiled at Parkhead. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Neil Lennon hails Brendan Rodgers and calls fans’ reaction ‘over the top’
The 21 other players followed him two minutes later. When they re-emerged Naismith had been replaced by Bozanic as Hearts looked to shore up the midfield. They exceeded this hope by drawing level just ten minutes after the re-start after Ajer was judged to have got the man before ball after Djoum exerted pressure following an attempted short pass out by Bain.
Such playing out from the back is a remnant of the Rodgers era. It hurt Celtic here. Bozanic converted confidently after it initially looked as if Ikpeazu would take the kick.
But any hopes Levein may have had of a battling point were dashed when Edouard turned Brown’s ball past Zlamal to get the second Lennon era off to a winning start.
‘Mellow’ Neil Lennon passes emotional first test on return to Celtic hotseat
Moira Gordon
Published: 21:59 Wednesday 27 February 2019
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/mellow-neil-lennon-passes-emotional-first-test-on-return-to-celtic-hotseat-1-4880825
The banner unfurled by the away fans made it clear what they thought of Brendan Rodgers: ‘You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt. Always a fraud’.
There could be no dubiety about Neil Lennon’s love for the club, though.
As the returning boss emerged from the tunnel to boos from three of the Tynecastle stands the away stand sang their acclaim for a man who has always been one of them.
Freshly appointed, there had been uncertainty over where the interim Celtic manager would watch the match. In the end he opted for the place he feels most at home.
The dug-out, accepting that at a stadium like Tynecastle there is never any hiding place.
Not that the Northern Irishman has ever hidden in the shadows or blended into the crowd. But there was a sense last night that while he was happy to be front and centre, he wanted to paint a more contained picture.
The last time he had occupied the away dugout at this ground, all hell broke loose. Pelted with a coin, he ended up on the ground but on his return to the Tynecastle technical area, he stood tall.
As he emerged from the tunnel, he will have anticipated the reception. Three sides of the ground howled their derision, but the Roseburn End erupted in extollation.
After embracing his opposite number, Craig Levein – their warm hug and shared joke the small human moment in a bigger pantomime – he raised his hands to salute the fans who had thrown down the welcome mat.
Those arms were raised again just minutes into the game. This was Brendan Rodgers’ team, and it had been prepared by the man who will now assist Lennon, John Kennedy.
But the man who is auditioning for the managerial role on a permanent basis made it clear that he already views the task of steering the Parkhead side to their eighth successive title, and their third treble as his responsibility
Yet, in those early periods of the game, he wasn’t the one remonstrating, he wasn’t the one berating the fourth official or turning purple with rage.
While he stood with hand on hips, gestured quizzically towards his coaches, or shouted some tactical advice into his team, it was his Hearts counterpart who raged against the SFA machine.
Odsonne Edouard wheels away after netting a late winner for Celtic. Picture: SNS Group
Hearts 1-2 Celtic: Edouard late show seals win for Neil Lennon on Hoops return
The former Hibs boss had claimed in his earlier press conference that Neil Lennon, Celtic manager mark ii was a more mellow fellow than the one who had harangued and hauled behooped teams of yesteryear to the first three titles in the current ten in a row quest.
As the abuse rained down on him and Hearts pressurised their guests, that self-regulation was severely tested and it was Levein who had to be calmed down by the fourth official as he fulminated on the touchline, irate at refereeing decisions and anxious to see his team convert their early superiority into something tangible.
When Celtic staged their counter attack in the 36th minute to take the lead against the run of play, Lennon’s emotions rose to the top as he hugged his coaching staff.
Having been pegged back, Celtic’s stoppage winner was the excuse to finally let the pent up feelings spill over.
It wasn’t quite the aeroplane celebration but he did end up on the pitch before setting off down the touchline, the picture of joy uncontained and when the final whistle sounded he took his bow in front of the away support and cupped his ears. The sound of mutual appreciation was all that reverberated around the ground.
By Thomas Duncan
BBC Scotland
9 hours ago From the section Scottish Premiership
Highlights: Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Celtic
Odsonne Edouard's stoppage-time strike earned Celtic victory over 10-man Hearts to give Neil Lennon the perfect start to his second spell in charge.
The striker volleyed in at a raucous Tynecastle to maintain Celtic's eight-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership and preserve their 100% domestic record in 2019.
James Forrest had the visitors in front before Hearts' Jamie Brandon was sent off for an elbow. But Oliver Bozanic levelled from the spot after Kristoffer Ajer fouled Arnaud Djoum.
Before the match, Celtic fans held up a banner criticising former manager Brendan Rodgers, who left abruptly for Leicester City on Tuesday.
And their first match without him looked set to end in disappointment, until Edouard's dramatic intervention sparked wild celebrations.
Lennon 'felt he could fly' after win
Reaction & as it happened
Celtic start slow but turn tide
After a blistering 2019 domestically, with nine wins from nine games and just one goal conceded, Celtic's season was thrown into turmoil in the space of 24 hours as Rodgers departed. Not that the Celtic fans in the away end were in the mood to be grateful for the seven trophies from seven that he claimed during his time in Scotland – as their banner testified.
With Lennon swiftly installed as his successor, the excitement was palpable at the thought of the Northern Irishman, not long out the door across Edinburgh at Hibernian, taking to the dugout at Tynecastle. The old stadium and Lennon have plenty of history – it was of course where he was struck by a coin earlier this season in that infamous Edinburgh derby.
Hearts came flying out the blocks, looking to take advantage of any Celtic hesitancy given the tumultuous 24 hours. Uche Ikpeazu- all 6ft 4ins of him – was all over Dedryck Boyata and Ajer, wreaking havoc with his physical presence.
'Never a Celt. Always a fraud' – Celtic fans unveil Rodgers banner
He had two headed chances, but the hosts' best opportunities came from Sean Clare and Steven Naismith. Clare arrived late into the box from a corner and his first-time volley was acrobatically tipped wide by Scott Bain, the former Dundee goalkeeper getting the merest of fingertips to it. Then Boyata gifted Naismith possession on the edge of the area, but the Scotland striker skewed his effort wide. It would prove a costly miss.
Despite being on the back foot and looking rattled, the league leaders struck minutes later. After a Hearts free-kick, they poured forward and a few swift passes later, Forrest tapped home. Ewan Henderson to Sinclair to Oliver Burke to Forrest, it was a lethal counter-attack.
From there, they grew in confidence, and were emboldened further when Brandon led with his elbow while challenging Jeremy Toljan in the air. It was rash from the full-back and referee Steven McLean was left with little choice but to dismiss him.
Having been in command, suddenly it was Hearts who were rattled. And they had goalkeeper Bobby Zlamal to thank for keeping it to one at the break as he produced a remarkable double save to prevent Burke's deflected shot creeping in and then Sinclair on the rebound.
As if all that was not enough, Naismith, their top scorer, failed to emerge for the second half due to a knee injury and was replaced by Bozanic.
Edouard breaks Hearts and sparks delirium
Odsonne Edouard
Odsonne Edouard's late winner was his 17th goal of the season
With everything now stacked against them, Hearts were handed a gift 10 minutes after the restart. Bain woefully under-hit a pass across his own box and it left Ajer scrambling. The Norwegian was beaten to the ball by Djoum, his desperate lunge scything the Cameroon midfielder down. Penalty.
It was an error of epic proportions from Bain, who has been in fine form for Celtic, and Bozanic then sent him the wrong way from the spot to level the match.
It swung the momentum again, the 10 men looked assured while Celtic were ponderous and slow. Edouard came off the bench and fired over after a good run and Toljan drove wide from distance, but overall there was little penetration. Meanwhile, Hearts remained a threat at the other end with Ikpeazu's mere presence causing problems.
Kieran Tierney and Forrest delivered dangerous crosses but there was nobody on the end of them. And just as the game looked to slip away from Celtic, Edouard stayed composed to volley in a dramatic winner. The Frenchman did brilliantly get on the end of Scott Brown's cross, pouncing when Hearts defender John Souttar missed his clearing header, to cushion in and send the away end delirious.
It could be a defining moment in Celtic's quest for an eighth successive league title as they snatched a victory that, for large spells, looked unlikely.
'I felt like I could fly' – Lennon lifted by Celtic's late winner
Celtic show 'never-say-die mentality'- analysis
BBC Scotland's Brian McLauchlin at Tynecastle
The appointment of Lennon was always going to add spice to what is already a fiery fixture. Credit must go to Hearts for the way they battled back after being reduced to 10 men, and for long spells in the second half it looked as if it was they who had the man advantage.
But Celtic have a never-say-die mentality in their DNA and the roar from the visiting fans after the winner would have been heard all around the capital, and the importance of the goal may not be clear until the end of the season. The Lennon factor was also evident when the ball hit the back of the net, as he celebrated up the touchline in trademark style.
Next up for Celtic is a trip to Easter Road and, while Lennon will receive a much warmer welcome from the home fans than he did on Wednesday, the task on the pitch gets no easier.
'You can't count your chickens' – reaction
Brandon 'will need to learn' from red card – Levein
Hearts manager Craig Levein: "Celtic are a good team and you can never count your chickens. I thought we were just about over the line but a cross was the one thing I didn't expect us to lose a goal from.
"Losing Steven Naismith is never an easy thing to cope with but the lads knuckled down and inspired our supporters. I'm really disappointed, especially for the supporters, that we didn't get a point."
Celtic captain Scott Brown: "It was a good performance throughout. The team spirit is extremely good at the moment but we have to keep going and not concede goals.
"It was sad to see a manager [Brendan Rodgers] of that class leave. The gaffer's come in and it's great to see him back. He knows what winning is about and how to pick up trophies."