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Trivia
- Celtic struck a five-year catering deal for £4million with Sodexho to take on the catering at Celtic Park. Sodexho in turn would make a £150,000 investment at Celtic Park upgrading the food kiosks, and a bistro-style “theming” of the restaurant.
- Celtic were linked with a 34 year old Moroccan defender then at AZ Alkmaar by the name of Abdelkrim El Hadrioui. They were also linked with Henning Berg who was out of favour at Manchester Utd. These contacts were dismissed by Martin O’Neill.
- Gremio were offered the chance to buy back Rafael Scheidt. They made it clear that they did not want him. Separately the club denied that a hefty sum had been paid to an illegal agent to set up the original transfer from Gremio.
- Vidar Riseth’s instructed his agent to find him another club after starting in just the Jeunesse Esch game since the start of the season and failing to make the squad in any other of the games.
- Mark Burchill’s loan move to Preston fell through due to a “couple of complications”. It was believed that Martin O’Neill wanted him to go only for one month and Preston wanted him for at least three. Also there were complications with UEFA Cup appearances and a question of money.
- McNamara and Sutton came back from suspension with Tommy Johnson missing with a thigh injury and Tebily dropped from the squad.
Review
An excellent performance from the Bhoys giving their strongest show so far in spite of missing a penalty and giving heart flutters to O’Neill when Hearts decided to fight back late in the second half.
Teams
Hearts:
Niemi, Flogel, Pressley, Severin, Naysmith, Tomaschek, Cameron, Makel (Juanjo 46), Fulton, McSwegan, Jackson (O’Neil 46).
Subs Not Used: Rousset, Murray, Simpson.
Goals: Severin 56, Juanjo 65.
Yellows: Jackson, Cameron (Hearts)
Celtic:
Gould, Stubbs (Mjallby 43), Valgaeren, Mahe, McNamara, Petrov, Lambert, Moravcik (Boyd 66), Petta, Sutton, Larsson.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Burchill, Berkovic.
Goals: Sutton 22, 26, Larsson 39, Moravcik 62.
Yellows: Petrov. (Celtic)
Referee: Willie Young (Scotland).
Attendance: 16,744
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Hearts | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 2 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 10 | 28 |
| Shots on Target | 5 | 8 |
| Corners | 7 | 8 |
| Offside | 0 | 6 |
Articles
Sutton sows seeds of content as O ‘Neill begins to flourish
Scotland on Sunday 20/08/2000
Paul Forsyth
Hearts 2 Celtic 4
THE Celtic revolution under Martin O’Neill is gathering pace. After an unspectacular start to the Ulsterman’s reign, in which his team have gleaned success without really finding their stride, the Parkhead side rolled into Tynecastle yesterday to set the pulses racing in an old-fashioned thriller of a match which maintained their 100 per cent record and confirmed to them the value of Chris Sutton.
The English striker, returning after that ludicrous sending-off against Motherwell, scored the first two of Celtic’s four goals in a furious exchange which looked to be way out of Hearts’ reach by half-time, yet somehow hung in the balance until its dying moments. Henrik Larsson and Lubomir Moravcik scored the others in a far from straightforward success which had seasoned Celtic observers salivating over next weekend’s Old Firm match.
Hearts, bruised, battered and three goals down at the interval, clung in there just enough to keep the issue in doubt and will surely rue a series of defensive lapses which handicapped their otherwise sterling efforts. In particular, the multi-faceted contribution of defender Scott Severin epitomised the Jekyll and Hyde nature of their performance. His bizarre afternoon included mistakes which led to Celtic’s opening brace, the gift of a penalty to his opponents and a goal for himself which reduced the deficit to 3-1. He even trooped off at full-time nursing a swollen eye which came courtesy of Larsson’s elbow.
By contrast, O’Neill’s scars were mental after a match in which his notorious vulnerability to the vagaries of stress was tested to the full. The breathless manager emerged afterwards to lavish praise on the “immense” Sutton, who even deputised for the injured Stubbs during a short first-half period, and acknowledge what was an exhilarating spectacle for the neutral. “The way that game unfolded would put years on you,” he said. “There was a mixture of some really brilliant stuff on our part as well as the occasional lapse.”
The visit of Celtic to Tynecastle has been a gripping enough occasion in recent years without the deluge that tipped out of the skies yesterday morning and added another dimension to a fixture already renowned for being sodden in blood, sweat and tears. Not even the sun which strained through the clouds just after kick-off, or the expensive foreign players in both sides, could detract from the feeling that this high-octane battle on a greasy surface was a throwback to the days when football was unpolluted by television and hospitality boxes.
But rarely in the fixture’s eventful past has such a physical exchange resulted in the visitors establishing such an early and convincing advantage. By the time Celtic had surpassed even their own expectations by going three up inside 40 minutes, a few Hearts fans were making for the exits and chants of “cheerio, cheerio” were reverberating from the visitors’ support. But the score was as much the work of Hearts’ inept defending as it was of Celtic’s attack.
How Severin will wince when he watches a replay of the opening two goals, both set up by Bobby Petta and both scored by Sutton. The first, in the 23rd minute, arrived when the rejuvenated Dutchman swung in a cross from the left, Severin completely missed it and Sutton threw himself behind the stray defender to head the ball beyond Antti Niemi. “It was more difficult to miss than score,” said Sutton.
The second, five minutes later, was scarcely any better from Hearts’ point of view. Petta delivered a dangerous near-post corner from the right and Sutton, given freedom by an after-you routine involving Severin and Thomas Flogel, powered a header high into the net.
That Celtic were the superior side is not in doubt. Midfielders Petta and Stilian Petrov seem to be thriving under Martin O’Neill, as does Paul Lambert who is still finding room for improvement, and a confident Sutton certainly prompted nerves in the Hearts defence. But Jim Jefferies’ side could have been a goal up before all this self-belief had been allowed to take root. In the 21st minute, Darren Jackson latched on to a short passback by Petta and set up Gary McSwegan whose first-time effort from eight yards was palmed away by Jonathan Gould. Gould made another important intervention between Celtic’s first two goals when he stooped low to his right and blocked a powerful shot by Severin.
But the fates were always going to be with Celtic in a skewed first half. If there was a symmetry about Celtic’s opening two goals, there was an eery coincidence about the events leading up to their third. No sooner had Larsson deflected a Moravcik shot against the post than he was making contact with a similar effort by Lambert. This time his touch was enough to divert the ball over Niemi and into the net.
Hearts emerged for the second half with Kris O’Neil and Juanjo on for Jackson and Lee Makel respectively, but any aspirations they had to rising from the ashes appeared to be dead and buried within a minute of the restart. That was when referee Willie Young awarded a penalty after Sutton took a tumble in the box under pressure from Severin. Larsson looked less than convinced that the spot-kick was of any real importance and strolled up to curl it over the bar.
Hearts somehow managed to draw hope from that small mercy and pulled themselves together in resilient fashion. A low, driven shot from 20 yards reduced the deficit and even had the home support rising to the challenge in the belief that a point from such a loose and unpredictable encounter was not entirely out of the question.
It need hardly be reported, of course, that the name scrawled on Hearts’ score-sheet was Severin. The young defender then looped a header wide of the post, and saw Gould tip his deflected shot over the bar, before Celtic scored a fourth to confirm that any hope the home team had of manufacturing an escape was pie in the Edinburgh sky. Moravcik accepted a pass from Jackie McNamara on the penalty spot and wriggled past a couple of sluggish defenders before crashing a right-foot shot in off the bottom of the crossbar.
Even then, with the outcome all but settled, Hearts found it in themselves to salvage some pride. O’Neil created space for himself down the left flank and delivered a cross to the back post where Juanjo hooked it into the far corner.
- Manager Interview
Martin O’Neill post match :
“I think Sutton is genuinely a top-class player.
“He was brilliant for us today, not only with the goals but his whole play. Overall I think he was immense.”
“At 3-0 up, I was absolutely delighted although I always thought Hearts would get a little motivation, especially after we missed the penalty kick which would have put us four ahead.
“But we miss the penalty and Hearts come roaring back. It’s put years on me.
“I could see the ball going over the bar and I thought, ‘Oh you so and so…’ but really Henrik did well for us.
“There were some really great signs for us and also some ominously worrying ones.”
“Overall, of course, I have to be very pleased with the result. And perhaps we should make some allowances for the fact that a little tiredness was there, as some of our players had been on international duty in midweek.”
PA Sports
Hearts 2 Celtic 4 By Chris Roberts, PA Sport
Celtic produced an awesome display of fireworks in the capital city to blow away a spirited Hearts side and ensure that their 100% start to the new campaign stayed intact.
Striker Chris Sutton celebrated his return to the side with two superb first-half goals – with the assistance of Bobby Petta – to take his tally to three for his new club.
Another from Henrik Larsson put the visitors in control at the break and despite the Swede missing a penalty, Lubo Moravcik made sure that the scoreline was as impressive as some of their magnificent attacking football.
Hearts refused to throw in the towel and replied with second-half goals from Scott Severin and Juanjo, but the day belonged to the rampant Hoops, who added sparkle today to the new-found resilience.
Sutton, who came in for the injured Tommy Johnson, and Petta gave the home side an early warning of what to come in the ninth minute when the dynamic duo combined to almost made an early breakthrough.
The £6million man threaded the ball through the hesitant defence and into the path of the winger on the left, but luckily for the home side Steven Pressley deflected his effort just over the bar.
Celtic did manage to get the ball in the net in the 18th minute when Sutton again played the ball through to Larsson, who took the ball around Antti Niemi before slotting it into the empty net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
But Hearts were also posing some problems early on and only a magnificent stop from Jonathan Gould prevented the home side from going in front after 20 minutes.
Darren Jackson cut the ball back into the path of Gary McSwegan in the box and he hit a fierce goal-bound shot that Gould saved brilliantly at full-stretch.
But it was Celtic that drew first blood in the 23rd minute when the ball broke to the rejuvenated Petta wide on the left and he produced a wonderful cross which Sutton dived at to head home emphatically into the bottom corner.
Two minutes later and Hearts could have been on level terms, but again Gould produced the heroics with a brilliant one-handed save low to his right to deny a fierce free-kick effort from Severin that was heading for the corner.
But poor defending cost the home side again in the 27th minute when Petta and Sutton again combined with the simplest of moves which saw Celtic double their advantage.
Petta curled a left-footed corner into the area and Sutton was given acres of space to head home from close-range with Niemi and the defence caught flat-footed.
But the home side should have gone further behind in the 39th minute when Larsson got a touch to Moravcik’s goal-bound effort, but it came back off the upright and Lee Makel was on hand to clear the danger.
However, moments later Jackson was shown the yellow card for a foul on Moravcik to give Celtic a free-kick in a dangerous area on the left and as a result came their third goal of the game.
Petta’s cross came out to Paul Lambert just outside the box and he hit a rasping right-foot drive which came off the heal of Larsson and into the bottom corner to send the travelling green and white army wild with celebration.
Celtic continued where they left off after the break and should have gone further ahead with just one minute on the clock when they were awarded a penalty.
Severin was adjudged to have pulled back Sutton in the box and referee Willie Young had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Larsson looked a safe bet to find the net, but he blazed his effort high over the bar.
However, Hearts pulled a goal back in the 57th minute after Jackie McNamara had fouled substitute Kris O’Neill and Makel knocked a short free-kick to Severin, who hit an unstoppable drive into the bottom corner from some 30 yards.
Two minutes later and Hearts could have got another goal back when Juanjo crossed into the box and Severin outjumped Johan Mjallby, but he headed just wide of the post.
However, Hearts fell to a suckerpunch in the 61st minute when the referee played advantage to let Larsson and Sutton combine outside the box and Moravcik unleashed a right-footed drive which flew into the net off the upright.
But the home side refused to lie down and in the 64th minute, Robert Tomaschek met a Stephen Fulton free-kick that was swung into the box, but he could not keep the header down.
The goals continued to come and just two minutes later Hearts pulled another one back in fantastic fashion when O’Neill crossed for Juanjo to fire home with a crisp right-foot volley.
Celtic could have added a fifth goal in the last minute when McNamara’s cross found its way to Petta, but Niemi saved low with his feet to deny him.
But the visiting support still went away with plenty to admire and the belief that they could even beat arch-rivals Rangers at Parkhead next Sunday.
Teams:
Hearts: Niemi, Flogel, Pressley, Severin, Naysmith, Tomaschek, Cameron, Makel (Juanjo 46), Fulton, McSwegan, Jackson (O’Neil 46).
Subs Not Used: Rousset, Murray, Simpson.
Booked: Jackson, Cameron.
Goals: Severin 56, Juanjo 65.
Celtic: Gould, Stubbs (Mjallby 43), Valgaeren, Mahe, McNamara, Petrov, Lambert, Moravcik (Boyd 66), Petta, Sutton, Larsson.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Burchill, Berkovic.
Booked: Petrov.
Goals: Sutton 22, 26, Larsson 39, Moravcik 62.
Att: 16,744
Ref: Willie Young (Scotland).