HEARTS 2 CELTIC 2
FOR the second successive game, Celtic were left to battle for a point with 10 men as they held on for a 2-2 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle.
It was Auston Trusty’s turn to see red in the stalemate in Edinburgh after Reo Hatate’s dismissal in the Europa League encounter in Bologna on Thursday.
Martin O’Neill’s men led twice, were pulled back on both occasions and they will undoubtedly see this as two points dropped and not one gained after a frantic and hectic confrontation.
Goals from Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-jun had given the visitors the advantage in each half, but a chronic inability to deal with deadball situations gifted the home side a way back into the game.
In the end, the Hoops, with a man short for 24 minutes after eight minutes were added on, came through and remain six points behind the Gorgie outfit.
EAR WE GO…Benjamin Nygren and his Celtic team-mates celebrate the Swede’s stunning free-kick for the opening goal at Tynecastle.
There can be no argument Celtic, who didn’t make life easy for themselves with a mindboggling series of mishit passes throughout the afternoon, were unfortunate to see Trusty banished in the 74th minute.
Referee Steven McLean booked the defender for hauling down Landry Kbore 30 yards from goal. Dane Murray was offering cover at the time, but John Beaton on VAR flagged up that the match official should review the incident.
The whistler duly did and agreed with the man in control of the screens. The red card was produced and a hard job was made even more difficult. It could be argued it was never a clear goalscoring opportunity for the Hearts player, but that seemed to be the way things were going in the capital.
Thirteen minutes later, Derek McInnes’ side levelled for a second time through Claudio Braga and it was backs-to-the-wall stuff for Celtic for the second game in three days.
It is to their credit they achieved a point. But they will know they blew the opportunity to take all three on this occasion.
A spectacular free-kick and a wonderful piece of goalkeeping was all that separated the teams at half-time.
Nygren produced the devastating deadball effort in the seventh minute to provide the lead for the champions.
GETTING TO GRIPS…new Bhoy Tomas Cvancara is welcomed to Scottish football by Craig Halkett.
And Kasper Schmeichel made sure the Hoops went in at the interval with the advantage when he repelled a netbound effort from Alexandros Kyziridis six minutes from the turnaround.
Nygren’s moment of magic arrived early in the encounter after the visitors had been awarded a free-kick 25 yards out.
The Swede sized up the situation before he stepped forward and swung his left foot at the ball. His attempt swept over the wall and high into the top left-hand corner of the net as Craig Gordon clawed frantically at fresh air.
However, it looked as though his special effort was about to be nullified as the hosts pressed hard for an equaliser as half-time approached.
Trusty, a hero in the deadlock in Bologna three days earlier, made a complete mess of a passback to his keeper to allow Kyziridis a clear sight of goal.
The Greek drilled the ball low towards its target, but Schmeichel was equal to the task as he spread his giant frame and managed to divert the ball to safety with his left foot.
Celtic had started well and veteran ex-Celt Gordon had to be alert in the fifth minute when he grabbed a header from Liam Scales after a menacing right-wing corner-kick delivery from Kieran Tierney.
New Bhoy Tomas Cvancara was looking lively and clearly wanted to get involved. He was welcomed to Scottish football with a few clattering challenges from Craig Halkett.
HEADS YOU LOSE…Stuart Findlay rises above the Celtic defence to claim Hearts’ first goal.
The game became scrappy and the visitors did not help their cause with a succession of wayward passes that invited pressure on themselves. At this stage, they had the opportunity to emphasise their superiority.
Callum McGregor, normally so astute and careful with the ball, was not exempt from criticism as he sent a few balls straight to grateful opposing players.
There was another chance in the 27th minute when Cvancara flicked on a pass to release the rampaging Daizen Maeda, but the pacy attacker blazed the ball wildly off target.
Maeda, in fact, may have set a world record for misplaced passes in this match. It was not one of his most memorable outings in a green and white jersey.
The speedy raider was instrumental in opening the way for Hearts to get back on level terms three minutes after the interval. He sent a bewildering crossfield pass straight to the opposition and they eventually won a corner-kick on the left wing.
The champions have not been dealing well with setplays all season and the horror story was revisited when Stuart Findlay was allowed to rise at the far post to head down and past the stranded Schmeichel.
The visitors were clearly rattled as the hosts fought and snarled for everything while referee McLean was also quick to award free-kicks any time someone in a maroon shirt hit the deck.
PICK IT OUT…Yang Hyun-jun leaves Craig Gordon helpless as he nets Celtic’s second goal.
In the 55th minute, Scales made a goal-saving late tackle on Kyziridis when it looked as though the livewire frontman was about to pull the trigger.
However, only woodwork prevented Celtic from taking the lead for a second time on the hour mark when Cvancara threw himself at a cute Nygren lob to leave Gordon helpless.
Alas, the ball soared onto the crossbar before being hastily cleared.
But the Hoops did reclaim the advantage only two minutes later after a superb move from one end of the pitch to the other. Schmeichel started it with a ball to Scales who touched it onto Cvancara who knocked it to Maeda.
On this rare occasion, the Japanese hitman returned the pass to the new Bhoy who raced away down the left with Halkett in pursuit.
He whipped in a low cross at the perfect moment and Yang arrived to ram the ball home from close range.
Five minutes later, Cvancara, who had just been booked by card-happy McLean, came off to a standing ovation from his new set of fans as Sebastian Tounekti was introduced to the action. The Tunisian moved to the left flank with Maeda stepping inside.
Nine minutes after that, Tierney limped off with Dane Murray taking over and Scales moving to the left-back role to accommodate the youngster in central defence.
TUNNEL VISION…Auston Trusty heads for the dressing room after his red card as Martin O’Neill ponders his next tactical switch.
Shortly afterwards, Trusty saw red and Martin O’Neill had to respond sharply by taking off Yang and throwing on Anthony Ralston.
Schmeichel denied Braga with an astonishing reflex save as he pushed away a close-range drive with his right hand in the 84th minute, but the Danish keeper had no answer when the same player whipped in the equaliser three minutes later.
A long looping left-wing free-kick created chaos and confusion again in a crowded penalty box and the ball fell to the Hearts striker who lashed it home from 10 yards.
It could have been a far different story if Celtic had not lost their composure midway through the first-half.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Araujo, Trusty, Scales, Tierney (sub: Murray 74); Engels, McGregor, Nygren; Yang (sub: Ralston 77), Maeda, Cvancara (sub: Tounekti 65).
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