Celtic 0-0 Hearts: Celtic surrender title in draw with Hearts

Published on Sunday 24 May 2009 13:25

THE result was inconsequential in the end but Hearts achieved a creditable draw against Celtic as the SPL title was decided with Rangers' victory over Dundee United at Tannadice.

A tidy, disciplined performance from the Edinburgh side prevented the victory necessary to keep Gordon Strachan's hopes of a fourth successive championship alive. As it was, his side's efforts would have been in vain, but Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo left Glasgow thoroughly satisfied with a point having already secured European football for next season.

He owed notable thanks to the Slovakian goalkeeper, Marian Kello, who effected several impressive saves during the 90 minutes, and to Christos Karipidis, who produced a display worthy of man-of-the-match in his final outing for Hearts.

With Bruno Aguiar absent through illness and Ruben Palazuelos injured, Hearts reinstated Marius Zaliukas and granted 20-year-old David Templeton his maiden start at first-team level. One spectator interested to see how the youngster fared was Vladimir Romanov, who intends seeing several youth academy pupils promoted to next season's first-team squad.

Celtic midfielder Brown underwent a pre-match fitness test to ensure his readiness for the occasion, which was expected to double as Shunsuke Nakamura's last for the club. Likewise, Robbie Neilson, Karipidis, Kello and Adrian Mrowiec were donning a maroon shirt for the final time.

As expected, the hosts enjoyed a purposeful start and Kello held early attempts from Nakamura and Scott McDonald. News of Rangers' early goal in Dundee subdued their advances, however, and resulted in a certain nervousness which helped the Hearts cause. Perhaps this contributed to McDonald's glaring miss on 21 minutes. Kello parried Brown's vicious drive but the Australian hurriedly volleyed the rebound high and wide from around eight yards.

Another low attempt from Aiden McGeady tested the Slovakian, who tipped the ball on to his left post. Celtic's concerted pressure was troubling Hearts, however their tendancy to play erratic forward passes from midfield gifted the visitors possession on many occasions. Karipidis scampered forward just after the half-hour to unleash a 25-yard shot which Boruc needed two attempts to smother. Then, at the opposite end, Kello showed good hands once again to collect Paul Hartley's drive and then deny Nakamura moments later.

Hearts fashioned their best opportunity in the closing minute of the first half. From Neilson's long throw, Calum Elliot spun inside the six-yard area to force the ball beyond Boruc, only for Gary Caldwell to clear off the goal line.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink replaced Giorgios Samaras during the interval and play restarted with Celtic embarking on mission impossible due to Rangers having secured a 2-0 advantage against Dundee United, which soon increased to three. Hearts continued looking resilient and disciplined and even took the luxury of introducing the highly-rated Lithuanian teenager Arvydas Novikovas in place of Templeton.

Darren O'Dea set McGeady up for what looked a certain goal in the 55th minute, but the winger merely stroked his effort wide of the post when hitting the target seemed a given. The pocket of visiting fans chanted "it's like a pre-season friendly" as the pace of the game died, and with it went any semblance of an atmosphere as Celtic reluctantly accepted their fate.

Kello still had work to do to repel another attempt by Brown and David Obua ought to have made better use of a through ball by substitute Christian Nade, which sent him galloping in behind the Celtic defence. The Ugandan lacked conviction going forward and was dispossessed, much to the chagrin of his manager.

Jonathan Stewart, another debutant, took the field for the final ten minutes and occupied the holding midfield role, but by then proceedings were virtually at walking pace.

Celtic (4-4-2): Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, Loovens, O'Dea; Nakamura, S Brown, Hartley, McGeady; McDonald, Samaras. Subs: M Brown, Crosas, Conroy, Vennegoor of Hesselink 46 (for Samaras), Maloney 69 (for McDonald), Naylor, Flood 82 (for Brown).

Hearts (4-1-4-1): Kello; Neilson, Jonsson, Zaliukas, Wallace; Karipidis; Templeton, Mrowiec, M Stewart, Obua; Elliot. Subs: Balogh, Tullberg, Nade 61 (for Elliot), Thomson, Park, J Stewart 80 (for Zaliukas), Novikovas 51 (for Templeton).

Referee: Craig Thomson.