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Trivia

• Hearts produced the shock result of the season.
• Ex-Celt, Mark Burchill lined up for Hearts.

_

Quick Review

Andy Webster's header from Marius Kizys' free kick was kept out superbly by David Marshall, but Miller reacted quickest to head in the rebound.
Celtic almost equalised immediately when Aiden McGeady curled a free kick into the box but John Hartson headed over from just six yards. Bobo Balde also missed from close range and that was to prove costly when Burchill scored Hearts' second. Miller played a perfectly-weighted ball through to the former Celtic striker and he steered his right-foot shot past Marshall and into the bottom corner.
Hartson had the ball in the net moments later when he headed Thompson's free-kick across Craig Gordon and into the far corner but the linesman had his flag up for offside. Stilian Petrov was next to be denied as Gordon pushed away his stinging long-range drive and then Ross Wallace, who had earlier replaced Stephane Henchoz, dragged a glorious chance wide of the post with Gordon well beaten. Celtic were still guilty of leaving gaps at the back at the beginning of the second half and Burchill could have scored again in the 50th minute but he pulled his right-foot shot wide from 19 yards. Gordon was by far the busier keeper however and he pulled off a terrific save to deny Hartson in the 62nd minute, acrobatically tipping the Welshman's header over.

TriviaHearts produced the shock result of the season.Ex-Celt, Mark Burchill lined up for Hearts.

Teams

Celtic:-
Marshall, Henchoz (Wallace 36), Balde, Varga, McNamara, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson, McGeady (Maloney 68), Bellamy, Hartson.
Subs Not Used:- Hedman, Sylla, Valgaeren, Fernandez, Lambert.


Hearts:-
Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, McAllister (Simmons 77), MacFarlane, Kizys (Stewart 72), Hamill, Wallace, Burchill (Elliot 62), Miller.
Subs Not Used:- Moilanen, Wyness, Berra, Cesnauskis.
Goals:- Miller 8, Burchill 19.
Booked:- Pressley, Neilson, MacFarlane.

Att:- 59,562
Ref:- H Dallas

Articles

• Match Report (BBC)
  
• Manager Interview (BBC) - O'Neill blames international duty.
  

Pictures

• Match Pictures Fans
  

Stats BBC

Celtic 0-2 Hearts

Lee Miller is congratulated on his opening goal
O'Neill makes title admission
Robertson delighted with win
Hearts produced one of the shock results of the season with a win over Celtic at Parkhead.

Despite being under pressure for much of the game, Hearts exploited holes in the Celtic defence to take the points.

The first goal came from Lee Miller, who followed up after David Marshall had saved from Andy Webster to head into the unguarded net.

Mark Burchill added the second after 19 minutes, breaking free of his marker to drive the ball past Marshall.

After a cautious opening few minutes from Hearts in which they gradually found their feet, the visitors took a surprise lead after eight minutes.

Andy Webster's header from Marius Kizys' free kick was kept out superbly by David Marshall, but Miller reacted quickest to head in the rebound.

Celtic almost equalised immediately when Aiden McGeady curled a free kick into the box but John Hartson headed over from just six yards.

Bobo Balde also missed from close range and that was to prove costly when Burchill scored Hearts' second.

Miller played a perfectly-weighted ball through to the former Celtic striker and he steered his right-foot shot past Marshall and into the bottom corner.

Hartson had the ball in the net moments later when he headed Thompson's free-kick across Craig Gordon and into the far corner but the linesman had his flag up for offside.

Stilian Petrov was next to be denied as Gordon pushed away his stinging long-range drive and then Ross Wallace, who had earlier replaced Stephane Henchoz, dragged a glorious chance wide of the post with Gordon well beaten.

Celtic were still guilty of leaving gaps at the back at the beginning of the second half and Burchill could have scored again in the 50th minute but he pulled his right-foot shot wide from 19 yards.

Gordon was by far the busier keeper however and he pulled off a terrific save to deny Hartson in the 62nd minute, acrobatically tipping the Welshman's header over.

Kizys could have killed the game off but he poked the ball just past the post from eight yards with Marshall beaten.

Miller could also have wrapped up the points in the 78th minute but completely missed Calum Elliot's ball across the face of goal.

Bellamy could have made it an anxious final three minutes for Hearts but he blazed over Celtic's last chance from eight yards out.

Celtic: Marshall, Henchoz (Wallace 36), Balde, Varga, McNamara, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson, McGeady (Maloney 68), Bellamy, Hartson.

Subs Not Used: Hedman, Sylla, Valgaeren, Fernandez, Lambert.

Hearts: Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, McAllister (Simmons 77), MacFarlane, Kizys (Stewart 72), Hamill, Wallace, Burchill (Elliot 62), Miller.

Subs Not Used: Moilanen, Wyness, Berra, Cesnauskis.

Booked: Pressley, Neilson, MacFarlane.

Goals: Miller 8, Burchill 19.

Att: 59,562

Ref: H Dallas

O'Neill blames international duty

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill
O'Neill watched his side fall to their third home league defeat
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill says international commitments played a significant part in his side's defeat by Hearts at the weekend.

Celtic had 10 players on international duty the week before Saturday's game.

O'Neill told the Celtic View: "The international break most definitely affected our preparations.

"We didn't see the majority of the squad together again until the day before the game. In fact Stilian Petrov didn't get back until Friday night."

Hearts also had players away on international duty, but O'Neill says the effect on his players was obvious.

"If you actually look at some of the other games being played across Europe in the wake of the internationals where teams have had a number of their players away with their national sides you will see it has definitely had an effect on their results as well," he added.

"During the game against Hearts you could see some of the players were tired, particularly the ones who had played two games the week before."

But O'Neill admitted: "In a month's time no-one will remember these sorts of things and they will only remember the result."



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