| Match Pictures | Matches: 1997 – 1998 | 1997-1998 Pictures |
Trivia
- Prior to the game there was a minute’s silence in memory of Billy Bremner who died the week previously.
- The Record linked the club with Asanovic of Derby County. They also said that Tommy Johnson would be leaving.
- Harald Brattbakk signed on 11/12/97 for for £2.3million with a 4 ½ year contract to July 2002. His signing had been delayed until Rosenborg completed their involvement in the Champions League. He made his debut in this game coming on as a sub for Blinker on the hour.
- Brattbakk, Enrico Annoni and Morten Wieghorst, who returned from a two-match suspension were included and David Hannah, Andreas Thom and defender Tosh McKinlay (who had been linked with a move to Aberdeen) were dropped. O’Donnell was still recovering from an ankle injury.
- David Hay decided to go to the Court of Session charging Celtic with unfair dismissal after his removal by Jock Brown from the positions of Chief Scout and Assistant General Manager.
Review
This was a crucial game in the league title. Hearts were pushing and top of the league – a 13th win of the season would extend their lead over Celtic to eight points. In the end Celtic thoroughly out-classed and out-played Hearts
Teams
Celtic: (4-4-2):
Gould , Boyd , Stubbs , Rieper (Annoni, 24), Mahe; McNamara , Burley , Lambert, Wieghorst; Larsson (Jackson, 80), Blinker (Brattbakk, 59)
Scorer: Burley (79)
Hearts: (4-3-3):
Rousset, McManus, Weir, Ritchie, Pointon (Frail, 80); Cameron, Salvatori, Fulton; Adam (Hamilton, 82), Flogel (Quitongo, 82), McCann.
Bookings: None.
Referee: R Tait (Edinburgh)
Attendance: 50,035
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Celtic | Hearts | |
| Bookings | 0 | 0 |
| Fouls | 23 | 15 |
| Shots on Target | 9 | 0 |
| Corners | 7 | 3 |
| Offside | 0 | 1 |
Burley break cracks Hearts
Scotland on Sunday 14/12/1997
Celtic 1 Hearts 0
HEARTS remain perched at the top of the Premier Division but their clout as the league leaders took rather a bruising in Glasgow.
An impassioned crowd of 50,035 watched Celtic crush their resistance at Parkhead and the home side should surely have won by a greater margin. If Jim Jefferies' side wish to convince as champions-elect, they'll need to export more danger and alarm than they managed here.
Celtic were a fine, athletic team overcoming their own self-imposed gremlins from an opening half to run and run at Hearts. In particular, in Henrik Larsson, they had a superbly inspirational striker. The way this sinewy Swede manages to sniff greedily at possession, and fend off opponents seemingly towering over him, is an eternal hope to his side. Larsson popped up with no end of twists and turns and, fittingly, set up Celtic's winner in the 80th minute with exuberant dash and deceit down a flank.
Celtic were graced as well with the presence of Paul Lambert, who continuously gnawed away at his tasks, and Craig Burley, who must slowly and doggedly emerge from the shadow of Paul McStay. Burley at Celtic has had to live with the fact that he plays a role previously occupied by an elegant midfielder for 13 seasons, but yesterday, his gritty skill, and certainly his vision, will have won him new converts. That's all apart from the fact that he was the astute executioner of the goal that finally maimed Hearts.
The league leaders get regularly miffed at the debate over when their resolve will crack, but Jefferies and Billy Brown, his much-admired assistant, must have been whimpering a little over this. The two of them were certainly a picture as this ragged match wore on, raging and gesticulating at their players as their game-plan disintegrated before them. In terms of chances created in front of goal, this was all a bitter disappointment from Hearts. There was a Thomas Flogel header, and a shot thumped yards wide at the end from Neil McCann, but that was the sum of it.
Jefferies will have been peeved all the more at his putting out such a positive side, with three attackers, Flogel, McCann and Stephane Adam, all pitted to bring havoc to Celtic's defence. Adam, as technically accomplished and composed as any in the land, pilfered at possession, squirmed here and there, and got chopped down a lot, but ultimately could not be a force.
Celtic's aggression is now buttressed with the arrival of Harald Brattbakk, a man seemingly bogged down by intelligence and articulacy, and whose spectacles give him the air of a careful librarian. As Eddie Turnbull, the old Hibs manager used to growl, Celtic supporters can only hope this player's brains are not all in his head. The half-hour of Brattbakk we saw here was certainly convincing enough: he had a fleetness of foot and a clever positional sense which should surely noise up most big stoppers.
At £2.3m, this Norwegian, on his track-record, represents a worthy investment by his club. There are a lot of other inflated prices running around in Celtic jerseys these days, which rather conflicts with the perceived penny-pinching and frugality of Fergus McCann. At these price-rates, Celtic Park continues to be seized with apprehension whenever Regi Blinker collects the ball. Even Lambert, a conventionally-gifted midfielder miraculously elevated by life in Germany, has often toiled to live up to his status as a £1.7m player.
Lambert can bring calm and direction to some congested areas of the park but being given a less conspicuous role in a team of such luxurious quality as Borussia Dortmund is clearly a different proposition to sorting out the hurly-burly in the Premier Division. At times he has mastered the innocuous, sideways pass, which was asked of him at Dortmund, but won't often suffice with Celtic.
The less animated and more subtle ploys of the player were at work with Celtic yesterday, but this can't neglect one supreme moment when, whatever else Lambert is about, he showed he can whack the impressive forward pass. The way he sent Burley marauding through the Hearts defence with a swift, spearing delivery was a joy, even if Burley ended up in such a fankle that he couldn't even shoot.
That moment, amid a beavering opening half when Celtic pounded away at Hearts, was rather indicative of the home side's inability to find a way past Gilles Rousset. Not part of Celtic's good fortune was the fact that their final salvo often came from Blinker, a player whose wavering convictions often make you want to watch him through the cracks between your fingers. Not for the first time, and surely not for the last, Wim Jansen tired of this winger and replaced him on the hour. It is believed that the thunderous applause at this event was not at Blinker's leaving us, but for the arrival of Brattbakk.
Celtic's goal was the fruit of this prolonged assault on Hearts and when it came it had Swedish sweat and artistry written throughout it. Larsson played exceptionally here, making thrusting runs and typically shielding possession, and in the 80th minute he laid on Celtic's goal. Twice he turned Alan McManus before crossing for Burley, who chested the ball down, adjusted his stance, and drilled a low drive past Rousset.
- Manager Interview
Wim Jansen post match
“Marc Rieper was struggling with a calf injury so we had to replace him with Rico Annoni early on. Other players picked up knocks during the game but they weren’t quite as serious.
“Stephane Mahe struggled on despite a groin problem.
“Henrik Larsson did very well to get the cross in for the goal but he had also pulled a muscle.
“I said to him at half time we should wait and see how it progressed so I am glad to say he played his part.
“It was a psychological lift for us but we have to go on winning every game.”
Jim Jeffries, Hearts manager, post match:
"We know that somewhere like Celtic Park is an intimidating place, but we have a young team who have still to learn how to handle it. And they will. Even the improvement they showed in the second half of the match was encouraging.
"We really didn't compete in the first half and Celtic made a few chances. After half-time, we had very little to cope with. In fact, just before Celtic scored, it looked as though they were running out of ideas."