Wild blockbuster clash in Scotland: Hearts commit ‘defensive suicide’ against Mika Baur’s Celtic in title rematch
Heart of Midlothian were just minutes away from the league title last May. But two late Celtic goals in the “decider” in Glasgow shattered the underdogs’ dream. The pitch invasion that followed at Parkhead only made the nightmare worse.
Revenge was on the agenda this Sunday. For the first time since 16 May, Celtic and Hearts met again, with Celtic top of the table and Hearts chasing. A win would have closed the gap to the defending champions to two points.
Instead, Celtic dominated, with young international Mika Baur pulling the strings in central midfield. Hearts played reasonably well going forward and repeatedly got shots away, but had no answer to the Hoops defensively. Their man-to-man marking fell apart.
Two Baur corners gave Celtic an early 2-0 lead: Kieran Tierney scored in the 7th minute and Benjamin Nygren followed in the 10th. Title-winning hero Callum Osmand then struck twice in quick succession to make it 4-0 (36th, 38th).
After Laurent Mendy pulled one back for the visitors (41st), Baur went on an impressive solo run and chipped the keeper to bring about Celtic's fifth before half-time. Hearts defender Stephen Kingsley struck his team-mate Jamie McCart on the line while trying to clear, so the goal went down as an own goal rather than one for the German international.
Any hopes of a Hearts fightback vanished soon after the restart when Camilo Duran made it 6-1 to Celtic (49th). The game then faded until Benjamin Nygren completed the 7-1 scoreline (83rd).
What was the reaction to Celtic's emphatic win?
The Edinburgh Evening News called Hearts' performance "defensive suicide" and spoke of "gifts to the visitors". It was "a shameful afternoon in Glasgow" for the runners-up, the newspaper concluded.
For Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, the praise centred on his decision to start Osmand for the first time. The 20-year-old had made his side champions in May after coming off the bench against Hearts, assisting the equaliser to make it 2-2 before scoring the winner. He had not established himself in the first team since then, playing just 28 minutes across two brief appearances in this league season before Sunday's start.
"Martin O'Neill made the big decisions and Celtic delivered at Celtic Park," Sky Sports Scotland concluded. "A ruthless performance from the Hoops, who move four points clear at the top of the table."
O'Neill himself called the result "the perfect response to the disappointments in Europe. We had to make a statement today, and the lads did that brilliantly. As for Callum Osmand: I'm absolutely delighted with him. His movement before the goals, his hunger, he showed today why we rate him so highly. It was a ruthless attacking performance from the whole team."
What did new international Mika Baur say?
Before the match, the 74-year-old had warned emphatically about Hearts and named them among the title contenders. "I think they have what it takes, and I think they may want to make amends for last season's results." His players evidently took the experienced manager's words very seriously.
Baur called it a "perfect afternoon" and said that, "in the end, I don't mind" about the goal that had been "taken away" from him. "The atmosphere at Paradise was incredible today. We wanted to apply pressure from the first second. For the corners, I knew exactly where the lads would make their runs. And before the break... I just saw the gap and wanted to chip the ball over the keeper," said the 22-year-old. He moved from newly promoted Bundesliga side SC Paderborn to Celtic FC in the summer and made his first two senior international appearances under Germany coach Jürgen Klopp in the Nations League at the beginning of October.
With the 7-1 win, Celtic moved eight points clear of runners-up Heart of Midlothian and four ahead of arch-rivals Glasgow Rangers, who could only draw 2-2 away to Dundee FC on Saturday.
As O'Neill noted, his side had responded to last Thursday's 4-1 Europa League thrashing away to Benfica in Lisbon.
