| Match Pictures | Matches: 2019 – 2020 | 2019-20 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic game rearranged to Sunday 3pm due to UEFA Cup.
- Very hot weather in the UK at present.
- Celtic remain on top, but Sevco also have full points. Next week is first league game v Sevco so something has to give.
- Two debut goals for Bayo, although some records class both as own goals. Each to their own in their interpretation.
- Celtic hammering down on illegal streams, caused headache for many with legal paid subscriptions with CelticFC TV which has been very poorly managed so far this season.
- Fraser Forster is back at Celtic, and his second stint debut match today; Got a yellow card. He also saved a penalty but hearts scored from rebound.
- Bury FC in trouble and about to be kicked out of EFL in England, similar with Bolton.
- Sevco have been ordered by UEFA to close a section of their Ibrox Stadium for Thursday's Europa League meeting with Legia Warsaw due to "racist" behaviour which includes "sectarian singing" by their supporters. European soccer's governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against them after incidents involving their fans during the second leg of their Europa League qualifier against St Joseph's on July 18. The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body ruled on Friday that Sevco must close a section of the stadium containing no fewer than 3,000 seats.
Review
(BMH of KDS)
Nice day out in the sun shine
Easy enough win – we slowed it down after the 3rd a bit too much for me – want hertz to get battered as much as possible
Disgusting Hearts fans – 50% of them eff off by the time it’s 3-0 as well
Listening to Levein and his bitterness was annoying but his pain is a joy
Bayo did well – pleased to see it
Ajer magic again – and he’s not even a wing back – class celebration for the 3rd too
Ntcham was good but him and Brown still isn’t the perfect mix for me
McGregor goal was a peach – hits them so well
Fraser saving a pen against hertz brought back memories – shame about the rebound
Now – the ref – today was appalling – not a soul in the ground thought it was a penalty
Even at the end – Mcgregor is fouled but still gets away and a break is on – he blows for the foul and stops the game – surely his referees brain has to ask itself ‘should I play the advantage here ?’ He’s an abomination
Teams
Celtic
- 67ForsterBooked at 39mins
- 35Ajer Substituted forRalstonat 87'minutes
- 2Jullien
- 6Bitton
- 23Bolingoli-Mbombo
- 8Brown
- 42McGregor
- 49Forrest
- 21Ntcham Substituted forJohnstonat 69'minutes
- 17Christie
- 10Bayo Substituted forGriffithsat 78'minutes
Substitutes
1Gordon
9Griffiths
15Hayes
19Johnston
20Shved
22Edouard
56Ralston
Goals
- Berra (29' minutes og), McGregor (54' minutes), Halkett (60' minutes og)
(note many state the two own goals are actually Bayo goals)
Hearts
23Castro Pereira
2Smith Substituted forBrandonat 18'minutesBooked at 59mins
26HalkettBooked at 44mins
6Berra
51Hickey
12Whelan
22Damour Substituted forIkpeazuat 71'minutesBooked at 90mins
40Irving
8Clare
9Washington
11Mulraney Substituted forWhiteat 83'minutes
Substitutes
3White
7Bozanic
13Doyle
19Ikpeazu
25Brandon
28Dikamona
41Henderson
Goals
Washington (81' minutes)
Referee:
William Collum
Attendance:
58,763
Articles
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Stats
CelticAway TeamHearts
Possession
Home61%
Away39%
Shots
Home7
Away5
Shots on Target
Home3
Away3
Corners
Home7
Away3
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Home13
Away13
Articles
Celtic 3 – 1 Hearts: Champions cruise to victory over winless Hearts
Celtic teammates celebrate as Callum McGregor, left centre, makes it 2-0.
Celtic teammates celebrate as Callum McGregor, left centre, makes it 2-0.
Stephen Halliday
Email
Published: 16:53 Sunday 25 August 2019
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-3-1-hearts-champions-cruise-to-victory-over-winless-hearts-1-499080151
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Vakoun Bayo may prove to have been worth the wait for Celtic. The Ivory Coast international striker has experienced a slow-burning start to his career with the Scottish champions but marked his first starting appearance with a match-winning contribution against Hearts.
Signed for £2 million back in January, injury has hampered Bayo’s efforts to establish himself in the Celtic side. But his performance on a sweltering afternoon in the east end of Glasgow suggested Neil Lennon has a decent alternative to Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths for the central striking role.
The Hearts camp left Celtic Park cursing their own part in Bayo’s success, insisting the double he claimed were in fact own goals by Christophe Berra and Craig Halkett. While TV replays are less than conclusive, it would be churlish to take any of the shine off the 22-year-old day in the sun.
Celtic were worthy winners against a Hearts side who have now won just two of their last 17 league games under Craig Levein. They struggled to lay a glove on Neil Lennon’s men who maintained their 100 percent winning start to the defence of their title ahead of next Sunday’s much-anticipated trip to Ibrox.
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Bayo’s breakthrough goal arrived as Celtic began to find some fluency in their attacking third of the pitch after a drab opening to the contest.
The scrappy nature of those early exchanges had suited Hearts who set up to frustrate the champions, midfielder Glenn Whelan deployed in a screening role just in front of the back four. The Irish veteran brought composure and tactical awareness to the visitors as he made his debut.
Celtic found it difficult to tempt Hearts out of their shape, the hosts’ only move of any note in the opening 20 minutes coming when Boli Bolingoli’s pass allowed Callum McGregor to find on the left side of the penalty area but he dragged his shot across the face of goal.
There was an unfortunate disruption to Hearts defence when right-back Michael Smith was forced to limp off, replaced by Jamie Brandon.
As Celtic gradually gathered some momentum, Halkett came to Hearts’ rescue twice in quick succession. The central defender showed admirable alertness to cut out Olivier Ntcham’s cross ahead of Bayo in the six yard box, then stepped in to clear the danger again when Ntcham’s brilliant reverse pass played in Ryan Christie.
It was a sustained spell of pressure from Celtic and goalkeeper Joel Pereira made a decent save to keep out a close range header from Bayo who had climbed to meet a Christie corner in the 25th minute.
But the on-loan Manchester United man was beaten by the striker four minutes later. Christie’s raking through ball sent James Forrest scampering free down the left. The winger’s lofted cross caused hesitation between Pereira and Christophe Berra with a slip by the Hearts captain allowing Bayo to bundle home from around six yards.
It had been a quiet reintroduction to life at Celtic up until this point for Fraser Forster as he was drafted straight into the starting line-up following his season-long loan move from Southampton.
But he was forced into action seven minutes before the interval when he raced off his line to make a smart block at the feet of Conor Washington. As the ball broke outside Forster’s penalty area, his next touch was much clumsier as he brought down Loic Damour to earn himself a booking from referee Willie Collum.
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As Celtic probed for a second goal, Halkett denied them once again when he stepped in ahead of Bayo who was primed to convert Kristoffer Ajer’s low cross from the right.
Any hopes Hearts had of mounting a recovery evaporated within the first 15 minutes of the second half as Celtic stormed into a 3-0 lead. Levein’s men paid a heavy price for a needless piece of hesitancy just outside their own penalty area by Damour.
The French midfielder dallied in possession and was robbed by Forrest who then linked with Christie to set up a shooting opportunity for McGregor. His left foot strike from around 22 yards was a pure as they come, giving Pereira no chance as he was beaten to his left.
The Portuguese ‘keeper had to retrieve the ball from his net again on the hour mark as Ajer, given licence all afternoon to surge forward from right-back, was rewarded for his sense of adventure. The big Norwegian’s low cross towards the edge of the six yard box was flicked home in predatory fashion by Bayo as he was challenged by Halkett.
The gangly forward came agonisingly close to a hat-trick when he leapt to meet a Forrest cross and saw his close range header smash back off Pereira’s left hand post. Bayo then appeared to succumb to cramp, receiving a thunderous ovation from the home fans as he left the field to be replaced by Leigh Griffiths with 12 minutes remaining.
Hearts had scarcely been evident as an attacking force in the second half but they scavenged a crumb of comfort when they pulled a goal back in the 81st minute. Celtic captain Scott Brown was penalised for a challenge on Sean Clare inside the area, presenting Washington with the chance to score from the penalty spot.
It looked as if Forster had marked his second ‘debut’ for Celtic with a memorable penalty save as he got down to his left to parry Washington’s fairly tame effort but the striker reacted well to thump home the rebound.
51comments
BBC
By Tom English
BBC Scotland at Celtic Park
From the section Scottish Premiership
Highlights: Celtic 3-1 Heart of Midlothian
Celtic maintained their 100% start to the Scottish Premiership season with a dominant victory over a tame Hearts side at Celtic Park.
Ivorian striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo appeared to bundle in the opener along with Hearts captain Christophe Berra before later claiming the third.
Callum McGregor scored a superb second, drilling in from 25 yards out.
Conor Washington's late strike, a rebound after Fraser Forster saved his penalty, was only a consolation.
Celtic join rivals Rangers as the only sides to win their opening three games ahead of their meeting at Ibrox next Sunday.
Hearts meanwhile, are yet to win in the Premiership this season and are without a victory in 10 league games stretching back to last term.
Lennon praises free-scoring Celtic
Reaction & as it happened
Bayo bounce as Hearts remain flat
In what is a huge week for Celtic with a European tie in Stockholm and an Old Firm match at Ibrox to come, Neil Lennon shuffled his team. Forster started ahead of Craig Gordon, a move that was more about protecting Gordon for AIK than making Forster his new number one. That question will only be answered at the weekend when Celtic visit Rangers.
Lennon gave a start to Bayo, a striker who has had to content himself with just eight minutes off the bench since joining Celtic in January for a reported £2m. Bayo has been waiting a long time, but he worked hard. He'll now return to the margins as Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths return as the main two, but he did himself some good here.
Hearts offered little. You wouldn't have expected them to win, or even draw, but they had enough players of experience and pace on the field to pose some problems when the game was still up for grabs. They didn't. Forster got himself booked after charging out from his goal and fouling Loic Damour but even with Celtic's defence looking jumpy at times there wasn't a whole lot more drama for them to deal with until that late penalty.
Including the end of last season this was Hearts' 10th league game in a row without a win – two draws and eight defeats. In truth, they were lucky to have left with just a two-goal deficit, the first of them coming just before the half hour when James Forrest, playing wide left for a change, chipped in a cross and a combination of Berra and Bayo turned it into the net, the former claiming it as an own goal afterwards.
Celtic stat
The second came 10 minutes after the break, Ryan Christie's simple but astute pass wrong-footing the Hearts defence and opening up space for McGregor to lash a shot past Joel Pereira. The goalkeeper was far from convincing in trying to deal with it. Pereira may have come from the glamour world of Manchester United but he's not looked convincing in his early games at his new club.
Bayo got the third when Kristoffer Ajer, who not for the first or last time was afforded so much time and space down the right, measured his cross and Bayo did well to get in ahead of Craig Halkett and flick his shot past Pereira. Television pictures hinted that, again, it may have been another own goal. Soon after, he headed on to Pereira's crossbar. When he was replaced late on, Celtic Park gave him a huge ovation.
There was a crumb of consolation for Hearts when Scott Brown bundled over Sean Clare and Washington scored from the spot at the second attempt after Forster had saved his first effort. Far too little, far too late. Levein will again hear the voices of disapproval from his own fans after this. Lennon, meanwhile, will take his team to Stockholm and then onwards to Ibrox. Who will blink first in the battle of the Glasgow giants? We might get an an answer this week.
Man of the match – Vakoun Issouf Bayo
The lesser-spotted striker had much to prove after his arrival in January and he delivered an encouraging performance. Limited to small cameo roles so far, this was his first start and he scored his first goal. He claimed the opener that may end up going down as a Berra own goal, he may also have the third taken away, but it was still a strong day for the forward.