Match Report: Hearts 2-0 Celtic

Heart of Midlothian emerged as deserving champions against Celtic at Tynecastle Park in the early hours of Sunday afternoon, scoring two goals against their opponents without conceding any in return.

Jorge Grant and Lawrence Shankland were the stars of the show on one side of the field, while Zander Clark showed off his skills on the other by stopping a penalty in the first half. The game was full of excitement and had Celtic playing with a player less.

In the blog post, it was mentioned that the Head Coach named Steven Naismith opted to switch things up by making five adjustments to the team that had previously drawn in the Edinburgh derby during midweek. The alterations saw the likes of Grant, Beni Baningime, Kye Rowles, Toby Sibbick, and Dexter Lembikisa all included in the starting team sheet, while Cammy Devlin, Natty Atkinson, and Scott Fraser were relegated to the substitute list. Unfortunately, Frankie Kent and Kenneth Vargas were not in the lineup due to their medical conditions.

The match began with a lot of energy, as both teams were focused on trying to score goals against the other. The first opportunity of the game came from a Jambos counter-attack on the right side, where Shankland passed the ball into the penalty area that found Alex Cochrane at the edge of the box. However, he hit the ball with a half-volley that went into the ground and went wide of Joe Hart's left post.

There was some disagreement during the game after only 13 minutes, when Hyunyun Yang fell after being challenged by Alex Cochrane. The referee, Don Robertson, decided it was a penalty, even though it appeared that Yang had run across Cochrane to make contact. Nevertheless, Adam Idah took the penalty, but Zander Clark managed to save it by blocking it with his legs, keeping the score even.

Shortly after, the referee was asked to review the incident on the VAR screen. Initially, a yellow card was given to Yang for his challenge on Cochrane, which was deemed too high and involved his foot. However, after careful consideration, the yellow card was overturned and a straight red card was given for a serious foul play infraction. As a result, the visiting team was reduced to having only ten players on the field.

Celtic managed to score via Matt O'Riley at 23 minutes into the game, but the referee called it offside as there was a previous violation during the action leading up to the goal.

Half an hour into the game, Hearts faced another threat from the right as Lembikisa crossed the ball for Alan Forrest. However, Forrest had to lower his head to make contact with the ball, resulting in the ball being sent high and missing the target.

Celtic showed how much of a threat they could pose soon after, as Daizen Maeda rose unopposed to meet O'Riley's corner and sent a powerful header just over the crossbar.

In an impressive maneuver, Hearts had a near chance of getting ahead with only six minutes left in the half. Lembikisa made an outstanding pass to Nieuwenhof, who passed it to Shankland. Shankland took a shot towards the goal, but unfortunately, it was redirected off course by Liam Scales.

The use of VAR became a main focus once more towards the end of the first half, as it was used to award a penalty to the Hearts, after Iwata was found to have committed a handball offense within the penalty box. Grant confidently took the penalty kick, sending Hart in the opposite direction and subsequently securing the lead for the Hearts team.

Celtic wasted no time in trying to even the score, as Idah nearly scored from afar but narrowly missed the mark.

The Jambos were close to scoring their second goal in the match during stoppage time. Forrest made a run through the middle and passed to Shankland, who calmly kicked the ball into the net. However, the goal was disallowed after a long VAR review due to a very close offside call.

Both teams continued to play hard after the game resumed. At the seven-minute mark, Cochrane and Grant executed a beautiful play on the left side of the field to pass the ball to Nieuwenhof. He set himself up for a shot on goal, but it went directly to Hart.

Shortly after, Cameron Carter-Vickers ended up connecting with a corner kick, but unfortunately, his header soared above the crossbar.

On the 56th minute, the Jambos scored their second goal. Shankland displayed impressive ability to control the ball and avoid Scales, then passed to Nieuwenhof. Unfortunately, Nieuwenhof lost his footing at an important moment, but still managed to redirect the ball towards Shankland. Shankland then scored a precise, low shot that went into Hart's far corner, bringing the score to 2-0.

The guests didn't seem to be slowing down, as Kyogo Furuhashi, who had been brought in as a replacement, maneuvered his way towards the edge of the penalty area and attempted a shot, but it ended up going straight into Clark's hands.

On the 70th minute, Furuhashi got involved once more. He reached the ball at the six-yard box from a low cross, but Clark made a skillful save by diving to prevent Celtic from gaining any advantage in the game.

On the opposite side, Cochrane kicked the ball towards Forrest who rushed towards leftside. Then, Forrest threw a ball into the area for Shankland to aim with his head but he was too distant to produce enough strength and Hart collected it effortlessly.

Clark saved the day with only 12 minutes left in the game. Furuashi made a run towards the Hearts box and passed to Idah, but the goalkeeper from Hearts made a great save to stop his strong shot.

In the 83rd minute, Kyosuke Tagawa and Macaulay Tait came in as replacements and almost scored a goal to seal their victory. Tagawa ran the entire length of the field and passed the ball to Tait, who then quickly took it to the edge of the box and attempted a shot. Unfortunately, Tait's shot went straight at Hart.

Once more, Clark was present to prevent Celtic from scoring when Idah took advantage of a ball that was not controlled by the Celtic defenders and shot quickly from a short distance, but the Scotland goalkeeper stopped the ball impressively with his left leg.

A fun conclusion to a highly enjoyable match in which Heart of Midlothian emerged as the rightful champions.

The list of players for Hearts includes Clark, Kingsley, Baningime, Grant (who was substituted for Tait at the 70th minute), Nieuwenhof (who was substituted for Devlin at the 79th minute), Shankland (who is also the team captain), Rowles, Forrest (who was substituted for Tagawa at the 79th minute), Cochrane, Sibbick, and Lembikisa. The substitutes for the match were Gordon, Atkinson, Denholm, Pollock, Fraser, and Wilson.

The Celtic team included the following players: Hart, Johnston, Taylor, Scales, Idah, Yang, Cameron-Vickers, Iwata (Kelly, 78’), Bernardo (Furuhashi, 45’), O’Riley, and Maeda. The substitutes were Bain, Lagerbeilke, Palma, Kuhn, Holm, Ralston, and Welsh.