Celtic left Tynecastle tonight with maximum points in a game that shifted from a stroll in the park to a nail biting, stress inducing mess after Liam Boyce got Hearts back into it in the second half. Luckily for Celtic the same player blew his chance from the spot later in the game which handed Celtic the win which is a huge result as we continue to apply pressure at the top of the league table.
Reo Hatate opened the scoring after 27 minutes with a thunderbolt of a strike that flew past former Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the Hearts net. As Celtic continued to dominate the play it didn’t take long until goal number two arrived. New signing Matt O’Reilly fed a lovely ball from the corner of the box into the path of Giorgos Giakoumakis who outmuscled John Souttar, the man soon to be playing his football at Ibrox, and finished with an innovative back heel flick into the corner of the net.
During the first half Celtic were absolutely dominant. The Hearts crowd had generated a ferocious atmosphere in the ground and Celtic done fantastically well to break their spirit and quieten them down with the two early goals. As we entered half time we were in cruise control and I felt fully confident we would push on in the second half.
Unfortunately once Boyle got his goal, which was clearly offside, the game literally turned on it’s head. After looking like the game was totally in their control, Celtic suddenly looked laboured as the home crowd came to life once again. For a while after the goal it seems like we couldn’t string two passes together and suddenly the likes of O’Reilly and Hatate looked out on their feet in midfield.
Ten minutes later it looked like our worst fears were being realised, when either O’Reilly or Nir Bitton got penalised for handball and a penalty was awarded. As Joe Hart dived the wrong way it felt like it took a life time for the ball the reach the goal and fortunately for Celtic the ball ricocheted off the inside of the post and shot across the goal line, thankfully not touching the keeper on the way past. A much needed reprieve which seemed to take the wind out of Hearts sail.
It really is becoming a hindrance that when we are fully dominating teams we aren’t finishing them off when we have the chance. We had multiple opportunities to score a third before Hearts got their goal and because we didn’t take them chances we ended up having to endure an unnecessarily stressful last 30 minutes.
I also thought McCarthy and Soro could have been brought on sooner than they were. It was clear to see from about the 70th minute that O’Reilly and Hatate were out on their feet and Celtic looked a lot more assured during the latter stages of the match once they had got fresh legs on.
On the positives from tonight I thought Matt O’Reilly had a very good debut, creating plenty of chances especially during the first half. During his interview with Sky Sports after the match he explained how he had never played in front of such an atmosphere before and it surprised him. If you think that’s intense Matt get ready to be shocked next Wednesday evening. He also explained he hadn’t played in a month so isn’t fully up to speed yet, meaning he will only improve in the weeks to come which is an exciting thought.
I also thought Giorgos Giakoumakis put in a fantastic shift leading the line tonight. His goal was the perfect strikers goal showing strength, determination and skill to get on the end of the cross to flick it in but it was his overall contribution that impressed me most. During the second half when we were under the cosh at times he provided the perfect outlet, holding the ball up well with his back to goal as well as winning fouls at vital times which slowed the game down.
At the end of the day the three points is all that really mattered tonight and we got what we came for. Thankfully it also looks like we got through a match with no more injuries which is another added bonus. On to Saturday and Dundee United at Celtic Park next. Let’s hope we make it a little bit less stressful this time.
Conall McGinty
2nd half the wind was horrendous and that’s why Celtic seemed to struggle…. brilliant performance and result with us having FIVE first team players out…
HH