Celtic 0 Hearts 0 – Missed Opportunities Cost Celts Victory

By Jack the Lad

Celtic closed the gap at the top of the Premiership after an eventful 0-0 draw with Hearts at Paradise.

The deficit now stands at 4 points after Aberdeen came unstuck in the Highlands, suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Celtic loanee Ryan Christie’s Inverness.

Leigh Griffiths returned to the side in place of Nadir Ciftci, while Forrest, Rogic, Lustig, Izaguirre, Bitton and Boyata came back after being rested for the Raith game midweek.

The Hoops faithful were expecting a few goals against a Hearts team who, in spite of a blistering start to the season, had only managed 2 clean sheets in their previous 8 games.

Indeed, in a half of total domination, Deila’s men should have been out of sight by half time.

It took only 20 seconds for the Bhoys to create a goal scoring chance. Leigh Griffiths done well to beat Paterson on the left hand side and deliver a dangerous cross, which Brown could only manage to head over the bar.

The Jam Tarts responded with a series of corners, one of which was cleared to the edge of the box to Nicholson, but his effort found itself well wide of the Celtic goal.

However, that was as close as Hearts came the whole game, with the Edinburgh side seemingly happy to park the bus in their own 18 yard box.

Minutes later Alexander was called into action. Griffiths fizzed a free kick goal ward from 25 yards out, and it took an excellent save from the ex Sevco keeper to deny the Celtic striker.

Before long, it was the post that became the saving grace for the Jambos. Commons drilled a pass into the feet of Griffiths, whose deft touch found its way to James Forrest, who in turn caught the ball on the half volley and rattled a shot off the Hearts’ post.

Next up on the conveyor belt of chances was Tom Rogic. Forrest cut inside from the left and managed to a thread a through ball to the Australian, who pulled his shot wide despite being one on one with Alexander.

If that was a sitter, then words fail to describe the chance that befell Griffiths. A wayward header from the Hearts defence found its way to the Celtic striker who, astonishingly, could only manage to head the ball into the grateful arms of Alexander from 2 yards out.

The Jambos gradually tightened up the longer the half went on, restricting the Hoops to strikes from distance, with both Forrest and Bitton coming close to opening the scoring.

The half time whistle blew and the only thing Deila’s men failed to do in the first half was put the ball in the back of the net. It appeared a matter of time.

Unfortunately for the Bhoys, the Edinburgh outfit were more defensively astute after half time.

Brown had the first opportunity of the half on 55 minutes, but his weak effort from 25 yards rolled past the post.

Deila’s men continued to struggle to break down the Hearts defence, who took the chance to foul any Celtic player who looked like making something happen. Kevin Clancy appeared unwilling to clamp down on the lack of sportsmanship from Robbie Neilson’s side.

Indeed, Callum Paterson was lucky to still be on the park. Forrest ran the Jambos’ right back ragged the whole afternoon, and appeared to illegally impede his progress on multiple occasions after being booked earlier on in the game. Well, not in the eyes of Kevin Clancy.

Griffiths managed to work a yard of space on the edge of the box with 15 minutes to play, but his curled effort was caught easily by Alexander.

With five minutes left on the clock Nir Bitton passed up a glorious chance. Izaguirre’s looping cross found the Israeli in the 6 yard box, but he could only direct his header over the bar, much to the delight of the travelling band of Hearts fans.

Griffiths did eventually have the ball in the back of the net in stoppage time, but it was chopped off for an apparent foul by Ciftci on the Hearts centre half. Dubious to say the least.

It appeared to be going all to well for Efe Ambrose as the game entered the  3rd minute of stoppage time. The Nigerian lothario had strolled through the game with ease, looking comfortable on the ball and strong in defence. Unfortunately for the big man, his defensive partner got a bit too jealous of his abundance of hair and decided to ruin his day.

Dedryck Boyata may as well have been on another planet when Nicholson found himself through on goal. The Belgian was way out of position as the Hearts striker bore down on Gordon in the Celtic goal, leaving Efe with no choice but to bring him down and accept a red card to salvage a point. The centre half was rightfully applauded as he left the pitch.

The resulting free kick was blasted over the bar, and with that Kevin Clancy signalled the end of the match.

Deila must be wondering how we never walked home with the 3 points after the first half performance. An abundance of quality chances fell to the right men, but somehow they failed to the back of the net. Griffiths was particularly poor, but he should be allowed a bad day at the office based on his goal scoring record this season.

In the second half the Jambos tightened up in the second half and they should be commended for their defensive performance, even if it was the embodiment of anti football. Interestingly, Deila failed to make a substitution barring the introduction of Nadir Ciftci, when it was apparent that players on both sides were beginning to tire.

Overall, a game of two halves but one which we should’ve have won extremely comfortably. James Forrest was the Bhoys’ best player on the day as he continued his impressive run of form, causing problems for the Hearts defence all day with his direct running and blistering pace. The only other saving grace from today came from the Aberdeen game. Not only did they lose their first league game of the season, meaning we closed the gap from 5 points to 4, but Ryan Christie managed a goal and an assist. Christie has now scored or assisted 8 of Caley’s 9 goals this season. He looks like a steal 500k, and based on current form, looks like he’ll be returning to Celtic Park in January.

Its European duty next for the Hoops, with Van Persie, Nani & co coming to visit with Fenerbahce on Thursday night, with the game kicking off at 8.05pm.