Hearts 0 Celtic 2
It had to be Tynecastle. At this venue on July 31st, 2021, Ange Postecoglou sampled defeat on his first Scottish Premiership match in charge of Celtic. Kyogo Furuhashi, who had met his team-mates just hours before, appeared as a late substitute and looked as if football was his second sport. Fast forward to May 7th, 2023; Postecoglou has presided over a title win again. Make that two out of two.
From the moment Furuhashi, a darling of the Celtic support, opened the scoring against Hearts there was no other possible outcome than an away win. Celtic, comfortably the finest team in Scotland, have notched the 53rd championship in their history. Rangers will be panicking given the almighty fuss they made over number 55.
Closer inspection of proceedings here would show Celtic actually played pretty sluggishly. There was a whiff of controversy, Hearts reduced to 10 men just before the interval after the interventions of VAR. Until that point, the Edinburgh side had been the better of the two. Yet Celtic and Postecoglou had no cause to care about boring detail as they celebrated in front of a euphoric, 1,300-strong away support.
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“I am really proud of an outstanding group,” said Postecoglou. “The standard has been ridiculous from the players this season. It really has been incredible. I have never really had to intervene. It is the easiest job in the world, watching these guys drive their own standards every day.”
Postecoglou offered a knowing nod when that evening in 2021 was brought back to him. Could he have believed, less than two years on, he would be presiding domestic dominance? “Yes, that is why I did it,” insisted the Australian. “I knew that night there was a mountain to climb but I knew that when I took the job anyway. I wouldn’t have taken it on if I didn’t believe I could deliver in a way that I have done.
“I thought I could create a team that would be very hard to stop. I have done that wherever I have been. That is not me being arrogant, it is just the truth.” Indeed, Celtic’s biggest current fear is that clubs of loftier standing have taken note of Postecoglou’s achievements.
The Celtic manager cited “mental tightness” for their early troubles against Hearts. The hosts looked the likelier to score until Alex Cochrane’s red card, at which point an air of inevitability fell upon Tynecastle. Celtic are strong enough against 11 men.
Nick Walsh, the referee, cautioned Cochrane for a pull on Daizen Maeda as the Japan forward raced towards goal just outside the angle of the penalty area. Willie Collum in the VAR room had other ideas by diverting Walsh towards the pitchside monitor. The referee’s next act was to brandish his red card.
“I didn’t agree with it,” was the understandable assessment of the Hearts interim manager Steven Naismith. “I think there is still a lot of work to be done by Maeda. I thought the referee made the right [initial] call. Our players were in disbelief when that was overturned. As soon as that happens, the game hinges on the first call.” That Collum felt strongly enough over what was a close call to intervene was the key element.
Celtic huffed and puffed before Furuhashi claimed his 30th goal of the season. It was trademark in style, following a near post run and low cross from Reo Hatate on the right. Callum McGregor had breached the Hearts defence with a lofted pass for Hatate to run on to. The visitors’ second was similar, albeit this time on the left flank. Substitutes combined, Aaron Mooy crossing for Oh Hyeon-gyu to flick home.
“The fans are amazing, they go everywhere with us,” said Celtic’s veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart. “It’s even sweeter to come to a stadium where they’ve tried to have as few in as possible.”
Given the archaic songbook again aired by that group at Tynecastle, Hearts’ board of directors will shrug their shoulders. Celtic have a team of such prowess that it remains baffling their followers waste so much of their time belting out verse in celebration of the IRA. They should try stepping into 2023.
With 95 points already reached, Celtic can turn attention to the haul of 106 collected by the team overseen by Brendan Rodgers in 2016/17. Second tier Inverness and a Scottish Cup final on June 3rd stand between Celtic and a fifth domestic treble in seven years. These are the headiest of times. – Guardian
