PHILIPPE CLEMENT watched his Ibrox side drop two points in the opening day of the season in a blankety-blank performance against Hearts at Tynecastle this afternoon.
Neither home keeper Zander Clark nor his opposite number Jack Butland was required to pick the ball fom their net in the scoreless stalemate.
Both sides came close to a breakthrough goal only to be denied by the woodwork.
Yan Dhande, the Edinburgh side’s summer signing from Livingston, left Butland rooted to the spot with a curling 25-yard effort that thumped off the face of the crossbar in the 14th minute.
However, it was the visitors who knocked on wood eight minutes after the interval when Tom Lawrence set in an inviting left-wing cross.
A BIG HAND…Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is hoping to be celebrating again at Parkhead tomorrow with a win over Kilmarnock. A victory will push the Hoops two points ahead of Phillipe Clement’s Ibrox outfit after just one game.
The home defenders hesitated as the ball dropped into the box and Cyrille Dessers was presented with an opportunity. But his header hit the underside of the bar and then the post before being smuggled clear.
Hearts also had a decent shout for a first-half penalty-kick when Connor Barron clearly handled a right-wing ball from Dhande.
Referee Nick Walsh said no and VAR assistant Andrew Dallas agreed and the Ibrox men escaped.
Afterwards, Clement bemoaned “the lack of quality” in his team in the first-half and conceded a draw was “a fair result”.
Champions Celtic now have the chance to move two points clear of the team many critics believe will be their main challengers when they face Kilmarnock at Parkhead tomorrow afternoon.
