2018-05-06: Hearts 1-3 Celtic, SP

Trivia

• Celtic were crowned League Champions last week.
• Brendan Rodgers complained of state of Hearts pitch, the grass was too long (on purpose?)
• Ex-Rangers (Deidco) player Naismaith now with Hearts (so always a Hun) should have been red carded with 2-3 really dirty nasty challenges in the match. Irony is that Hearts manager Craig Levien had publicly complained about protection needed against Scott Brown (which was nonsense).
• Match is marred by poor stewarding & policing of away Celtic fans, Shocking scenes at Tynecastle today. Forcibly, closing gates on supporters and herding people down a very tight path.
• Kieran Tierney wins PFA young player of the year for third year running, first time ever happened.
• Hearts manager Craig Levein says he will not change the Tynecastle pitch to suit Celtic manager Brendan RodgersHearts manager Craig Levein said Brendan Rodgers can "bleat all he wants" about the Tynecastle pitch but it will not change his club's approach "He can moan [but] it will be the same again next season. If we want to talk about a level playing field, if they bring a team through here that earn the same money as our players do, then we will put them out on the pitch and see who wins." Levein also confirmed Hearts would challenge any potential ban for Steven Naismith for his tackle on Celtic captain Scott Brown.
  
• Chelsea are angry with Brendan Rodgers over Charly Musonda’s Celtic loan, according to reports that suggest the Stamford Bridge club are unhappy at the Belgian youngster’s lack of game time.
• Celtic are close to finalising a deal that will see Liverpool teenager Rhian Brewster move to Parkhead on a season-long loan deal, according to reports. Brewster, who helped England win the Under-17 World Cup last year, was signed from
• Chelsea by Liverpool during Brendan Rodgers’ tenure and is viewed as a hot prospect at Anfield, and has already been included in first team squads.
• Garry O’Connor believes Hibs would have won the 2006/07 Scottish Premier League had the ‘golden generation’ team stayed together.
• Sevco in freefall: Two directors left, Manager Murty sacked/demoted, new caretaker manager is Jimmy Nicholl whose last role was with Cowndenbeath. Theynext announce a share issue.
• Sevco announce new manager: Ex-Liverpool legend Stevie Gerard
• Celtic are to become the first football club in the UK to provide free sanitary products to female fans as part of efforts to tackle period poverty. The Glasgow club is to make tampons and other sanitary products freely available in all women’s toilets at its home ground of Celtic Park by the time the next season starts in August.
• Celtic Park could be confirmed as the venue for next year’s PRO14 final, with tournament chiefs looking to expand the appeal of the rugby competition. The ground has hosted a rugby league match, back in 1909 as Australia drew 17-17 with England, but despite reports last year suggesting Glasgow Warriors could play at the stadium, is yet to stage a rugby union fixture.
• Alex Ferguson rushed to hospital with a brain haemorrage. Early reports are positive, but we all wish him the very best of health and a good recovery.
• Snooker player & Celtic fan John Higgins in World final tonight, sadly was to lose 18-16. A hard fought final.

Review

Harry Brady (@HarryBradyCU) on twitter , May 06, 2018:
The thuggery of Hearts today was a disgrace. The targeting of Brown (with no Ref protection) was so co-ordinated that it was obviously pre-planned. Levein should be on SPFL charge

(El Salto of KDS)
A great win against opposition who could only be described as thugs.

How Naismith stayed on the pitch is beyond belief, two red card assaults and an elbow to Rogics head

Same for Lafferty, early booking yet is allowed the luxury of noising up Celtic fans when he scores, added to the fact his persistent fouling for the rest of the game

They moan about a disallowed goal yet are blind to the fact that there was a clear foul in the build up to theirs

They have been in holiday mode since the split yet today they were men possessed, feck the lot of them

Well said Brendan calling them out on the pitch tampering and the thuggery of Naismith.

(Antrim Gael of KDS)
For as long as I have been following Celtic, 40 years, I have to say I detest this Hearts crowd more than anyone including Sevco. They have this core belief that they have to be more sectarian, bigoted and hateful than their Glasgow in laws to be somehow more accepted by the Scottish football and media Establishment; they MUST be MORE LOYAL than RE PEEPLE themselves and they fully play up to that role.

The hatred of Celtic oozes out of their stands and they seem to revel in it at ALL levels of their club. The disgusting treatment of Scott Brown follows on from their shameful aggressive vitriol and violent actions towards Neil Lennon and the Scottish football and media Establishments provide the sectarian sea in which these hateful bigots swim.

It's ALWAYS Brown/Lennon's fault NEVER the hatemongers and fundamental anti-Celtic, anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigots. This is REALLY SCOTLAND'S SHAME!

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BBC
Champions Celtic came from behind to hand Hearts their first home defeat since returning to Tynecastle.

Kyle Lafferty gave the hosts the lead with a fine right-foot finish but Dedryck Boyata nodded in the leveller three minutes later.

Moussa Dembele hit the bar with a neat lob and after half-time he made it 2-1 following a sublime Tom Rogic pass.

Scott Sinclair tapped in the third in stoppage time as Brendan Rodgers' side dominated the second half.

The only down-side for Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was an injury to in-form striker Odsonne Edouard, who had to go off with looked like a hamstring problem in the second half.
Kyle Lafferty goal
Kyle Lafferty lashed a cracking effort beyond Scott Bain to give Hearts the lead

Rodgers had expressed his disappointment with the Tynecastle surface before kick-off, insisting the grass had been left long to slow his side down, and his team were second best in the opening minutes.

Hearts looked to have hit the front after 17 minutes when John Souttar knocked the ball home from close range, but referee Bobby Madden ruled it out for a foul on Celtic keeper Scott Bain.

Seconds later and the hosts did grab the opener.

Steven Naismith fed the ball to Lewis Moore and his flick-on fell perfectly for Lafferty, who took one touch and smashed it through Bain from a tight angle.

The lead lasted less than three minutes, however, as Boyata guided a delightful header into the top corner from Olivier Ntcham's floated free-kick to the back post.

Dembele almost made it 2-1 soon after following a moment of slackness from Souttar, but his lob bounced off the bar and went over.
Dedryck Boyata goal
Dedryck Boyata drew Celtic level at 1-1 with a fine header

Ref Madden was a busy man, dishing out yellow cards to Hearts' Joaquim Adao, Ross Callachan and Kyle Lafferty, while Celtic's Callum McGregor was also cautioned.

Hearts' Naismith, however, was perhaps lucky to escape punishment for a late challenge on Scott Brown early in the match.

Celtic started the second-half stronger and took the lead in 51 minutes, with the goal all down to the vision and execution of Rogic.

The Australian floated a lovely ball with the outside of his left foot to the far post where Dembele killed the ball expertly with his left and slotted home with his right.

It was almost 3-1 when Christophe Berra's attempted clearance cannoned off Rogic and hit the post.
Moussa Dembele hits bar
Moussa Dembele hit the bar with a lob after a mistake by Hearts defender John Souttar

Edouard then went off with what looked like a hamstring injury before James Forrest fired over after fine set-up work by substitute Sinclair.

Celtic sealed victory when Sinclair tapped in following lovely work by fellow substitute Stuart Armstrong.

Hearts' last defeat at Tynecastle came in May 2017 at the hands of Aberdeen, although they lost twice during a run of home matches at Murrayfield earlier this season while Tynecastle was being refurbished.

BBC
Hearts: Craig Levein tells Brendan Rodgers he can 'bleat all he wants' on pitch
Hearts manager Craig Levein and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers

BBC
Hearts 1-3 Celtic: Steven Naismith tackle on Scott Brown 'shocking' – Brendan Rodgers

From the section Celtic

Steven Naismith's crunching challenge on Scott Brown

Brendan Rodgers insists Hearts' Steven Naismith got away with a "shocking challenge" on Scott Brown during Celtic's 3-1 win at Tynecastle.

Naismith escaped punishment for the early tackle on Celtic's skipper.

"You only need to see it. The ball was gone and the follow through is there to see," Rodgers told BBC Scotland.

"The ball was well gone and it wasn't just late, it was very late. It will be just interesting to see what the authorities make of that."

Celtic come from behind to beat Hearts

Celtic secured a seventh successive league title last week by beating Rangers 5-0, but they fell behind at Tynecastle when Kyle Lafferty smashed a right-foot effort past Scott Bain.

Dedryck Boyata squared it with a fine header before Moussa Dembele made it 2-1 following a sublime pass from Tom Rogic, with substitute Scott Sinclair sealing the win with a stoppage-time tap-in.
Naismith and Brown
Naismith and Brown were involved in several tussles throughout the match

Celtic can secure back-to-back trebles by seeing off Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final on 19 May, and the only downside to Sunday's win was an injury to in-form French striker Odsonne Edouard, which could make him a doubt for Hampden.

"It looked like a hamstring so we're going to need to assess that and see where that's at," Rodgers added.

"If it is his hamstring then it's going to be hard for him to make it.

"Leigh [Griffiths] was ill so he'll get back into training next week I hope."

Sunday's win secured a slice of revenge for Celtic, whose 69-match unbeaten domestic run was ended when they last visited Tynecastle in December.

And Rodgers was delighted to see his side come through a difficult test in the capital.

"A great victory for us on the back of obviously going behind, and as I said it was a really really tough game for us," he said.

"Tom [Rogic's] pass for the second goal, Moussa's touch and finish and then a real good combination play between Stu [Stuart Armstrong] and Scott [Sinclair] to score. Very satisfying.

"A different way to win from last week but still three points and happy."

Hearts 1 – 3 Celtic player ratings
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/hearts-1-3-celtic-champions-hand-jambos-first-tynecastle-defeat-1-4735547
There was just a hint through the week that Celtic might not be completely up for this game and maybe it was Mikael Lustig’s lunatic dancing aboard the plane to Tenerife, without a policeman’s hat this time.

READ MORE – Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers calls Tynecastle pitch ‘embarrassing’

Or it might have been the champions celebrating their latest title by the pool with a rendition of the techno hit Zombie Nation with its poetic refrain: “Zombie, zombie, zombie, zombie nation”. Or perhaps it was captain Scott Brown grabbing the microphone in a nightclub to murder the Queen classic Don’t Stop Me Now.

Well, a trip to Tynecastle was bound to bring them back to thudding reality and proceedings began with the Hearts faithful booing their own team – for forming a guard-of-honour for the seven-in-a-row men. Seconds in, when Mikael Lustig wound up for the first throw, a cup and its contents flew past his ear and he possibly wished he still had that hat. Then in the 18th minute the marauding, clattering Kyle Lafferty fired the home side into the lead.

But Celtic weren’t playing in flip-flops and rubbing sunscreen on each other’s backs. Goals from Dedryck Boyata, Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair won them the match and ended Hearts unbeaten record at their redeveloped home.

Celtic in Gorgie is normally a notable fixture in the calendar and often a fiery one, but this latest clash had been pushed down the agenda by Steven Gerrard’s appointment as Rangers manager and Sir Alex Ferguson’s brain hemorrhage, never mind that the title had been clinched and Hearts were only battling with themselves for sixth spot.

It hadn’t been downrated in Jambo eyes, though. Having ruined the run of Celtic’s Invincibles here earlier in the season, and by four goals to nil, this was a chance to stick something unpleasant in the championship bubbly.

The first outbreak of niggle in the warm spring sunshine came with a clash involving Scott Brown and Steven Naismith, the latter appearing to leave in a boot. But first in referee Bobby Madden’s book was Lafferty for going studs-up on Tom Rogic.

Bizarrely the floodlights blazed. Hearts fired in long throws and longer balls in a bid for the breakthrough. They thought they’d got it when John Souttar forced a corner over the line only for Madden to blow for a block on goalkeeper Scott Bain which wasn’t altogether apparent. A maroon-clad fan threw the ball in Calum McGregor’s face – the midfielder deputising for Kieran Tierney at left-back – all part of the fabled Tynecastle “atmosphere”. It was tousy and fast – at least when the players could dig the ball out of the long grass, which brought complaints from Celtic afterwards. And then came the opener: yet another howitzer from deep, a flick from Lewis Moore, Brown conveniently being barged by Naismith and Lafferty fairly bulleting the ball through Bain.

But the lead lasted just three minutes. Olivier Ntcham angled a free-kick to the back post where Boyata was lurking. Lafferty wasn’t as sharp with his defensive duties and the Belgian was able to steer his header high into the opposite corner of the net.

Dembele was given sight of goal but Jon McLaughlin was speedily off his line. At the other end Souttar couldn’t quite stretch for a cross flicked on by Christophe Berra. Then Souttar was short with a back-pass, Dembele attempted a lob, but the ball bounced onto the bar and over.

Unsurprisingly, the match programme went big on a moment from that 4-0 game rated by many Jambos the highlight of a disappointing season: Harry Cochrane’s goal. “The moment,” it declared under a blown-up photo, while the 17-year-old, recalling the strike for the umpteenth time, called the biggest highlight of his tender life. But the prospect had to bide his time and by the time he came off the bench Hearts were behind.

After Moore had lost the ball wide on the right, Rogic produced the pass of the afternoon: outside of the right foot with a subtle fade. Dembele killed the ball instantly, prodding past McLaughlin to the delight of the away support who’d been singing “Champions again” non-stop.

Rodgers withdrew Odsonne Edouard who was injured and Dembele as a precaution and this was Berra’s opportunity to assume centre-forward duties. Mind you, with Fortress Tynie’s reputation to save, he would have done this anyway.

But Hearts couldn’t quite get Cochrane on the ball, couldn’t quite contrive the craft to find an equaliser. The nearest things came at the other end although Celtic’s shooting became quite casual as the afternoon grew hotter. Maybe they thought they were back in Tenerife.

And then, deep into stoppage time, substitute Stuart Armstrong spied a gap in the tiring Hearts defence and crossed for fellow replacement Sinclair to add the third.

BBC