HEARTS 2 CELTIC 1

PRE – MATCH COMMENT: Last year Celtic secured a 2 - 0 victory with an encouraging performance and t.y. it's important to repeat the feat. Rangers have found a new determination and 3pts are very important.

BORUC................6 Had no chance with either goal but his distribution was poor to-day. I don't feel he's come back in top form. Another game, another no clean sheet.

HINKEL..................5 Felt his lack of defending awareness was again highlighted for Hearts winning goal.

LOOVENS................4 What he was thinking about when he failed to clear his lines instead of letting the ball into the penalty box, heaven only knows. I doubt if he made a composed pass out of defence.

CALDWELL............. 4 He was always going to be dicing with death when he decided to make a tackle from behind in the box. I think he might have been unlucky but it was rash.

FOX......................... 6 Steady enough and did try to force forward whenever he could.

N'GUEMO...............7 Played well both in an attacking sense and after Celtic went down to 10 men when the defensive side of his game came into play.

CROSAS...................6 Was substituted after Caldwell was sent off but up until then he was showing his ability in the constructive aspect of the game.

McGEADY..............8 MOM He never allowed the threat of a yellow card to put him off his game. was a constant threat to Hearts with his aggressive attacking drives and was unlucky not to score with a great run and shot.

ROBSON............. ....6 He brings a physical side to the team and that has it worth but his lack of creativity will, I think, relegate him to the bench when the Korean arrives (also McGinn, Zeng, Brown).

McDONALD..............7 Was unlucky not to score when his header came off the post and then set up Samaras with a glorious chance.

SAMARAS................. 7 Missed a great chance to score in the second half but he did keep his goal a game run going. Thought he showed a lot of skill and commitment.

SUBS..................

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FORTUNE........ 6 Was involved after replacing McDonald and was unlucky not to score.

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McGINN........... 5 Was not on for long enough

McMANUS........... 6 Came on when Caldwell was redcarded and played steadily but he has lost his confidence in his own ability and so have the fans.

REF ..................(Tumilty) 6 Cannot criticise him for the penalty award but he should certainly have booked Concalves for his retribution on Samaras.

RATING: Quality: 5.8 (l.y. 5.7)

POSSESSION: 46% I get these figs from the BBC site but I have my doubts about their accuracy.

COMMENTS:1. We lost and that's a big blow but this was a good performance by Celtic both before the sending off and certainly after it. Celtic had 9 shots on target whilst Hearts had only 3!

2. I don't know of another team in the SPL which makes so many defensive mistakes that are punished as they are.

3. Celtic are now 3pts worse off than l.y. in the corresponding games.