JOE HART once again emphasised his worth to Celtic inside two minutes of the game against Dundee United at Tannadice yesterday.
The 35-year-old 75 times-capped England international keeper displayed lightning reflexes to swoop to his left to stun a netbound effort from Glenn Middleton.
As the ball broke loose, Hart bravely launched himself in an effort to hold onto the rebound and took a boot on the top of his head from the lunging Steven Fletcher in a collision which brought the former Scotland striker a yellow card from referee Steven McLean.
PLAY ON…Joe Hart is looked after by a Celtic medic as he prepares to continue to protect his goal at Tannadice.
The shotstopper had to have the wound stapled by the Hoops medical team as the game was held up for six and a half minutes. Once he had swapped his bloodied shirt and shorts, he resumed and put in his usual immaculate performance.
Ange Postecoglou was swift to applaud his goalkeeper as he told Celtic TV: “Obviously, we weren’t tested too much. Joe pulled off a great save at the start and again showed enormous bravery to throw himself at the opposition’s feet.
“They are the kind of things that keep you really sharp and make sure the opposition get an opportunity like that there’s someone in goal (to deal with it).
“Our back four, in general, were very good at sniffing out that danger.”
TIC TALK…Joe Hart and Carl Starfelt exhange views during the 9-0 romp against Dundee United.
Celtic fans were anxious to discover the extent of the injury to the netminder after the 9-0 triumph, but Hart showed a neat sense of humour when he took to Instagram to keep them up to speed with his condition.
He said: “Top performance. Congratulations to Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada on the hat-tricks.
“Appreciate the messages of concern…I’ve lost a few more strands of hair which I can’t afford but other than that I’m all good. Let’s keep moving.”
Hart, who signed a three-year contract in a £1million switch from Spurs 13 months ago, has had four shut-outs in five Premiership outings this season with only a header by Ross County’s Alex Iacovetti in the 3-1 win in Dingwall earlier this month the blemish on his record.
Now the experienced custodian is preparing for a return to the venue for the Premier Sports League Cup meeting on Wednesday while gearing up for the first Glasgow derby of the campaign at Parkhead on Saturday.
As Joe says, “let’s keep moving.”
KYOGO, ABADA HAT-TRICKS AS CHAMPS RUN AMOK IN LANDSLIDE ON TAYSIDE
