TIGHT TO THE FINISH
Kyogo’s winner too close to call and Jambos make Celts sweat for huge win
IN the end it was as tight as the offside call that won it.
Kyogo Furuhashi was given the benefit of the doubt on a decision that might have taken VAR all night to work out but it was enough to give Celtic the three points they needed to hang on to Rangers’ coat tails at the top of the table.
Kyogo’s lightning reactions – he’d played on the edge of offside all night – got him in ahead of the Hearts defence for his 14th goal of the season as Ange Postecoglou’s men withstood a Hearts comeback in the final 20 minutes.
The win came at a cost for Celtic as Jota, Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh all went off injured – the Portuguese talisman with a hamstring strain – but the points were secured to the relief of the vast majority of the 60,000 inside Parkhead.
The home side were dealt a prematch blow with the non-appearance of Cameron Carter-Vickers, who didn’t make the bench. And while Carl Starfelt was available again after injury, it was still a pain to lose the American international centre-back.
Tom Rogic was back in midfield and James Forrest came in for Liel Abada as Celtic went looking for their fourth domestic win in a row.
Hearts rang the changes as well, the most eye-catching being the benching of striker Liam Boyce. His place went to Ben Woodman, while Aaron McEneff, Josh Ginnelly and Peter Haring came in for Andy Halliday, Beni Baningime and Gary Mackay-Steven.
Celtic started with all guns blazing, zipping the ball around at speed and forcing the away side to defend deep.
Welsh went close with a header from a David Turnbull free-kick before the midfielder let fly from 20 yards only to see his shot fizz of Craig Gordon’s left-hand post.
Neilson’s side survived the early onslaught but almost shot themselves in the foot in the ninth minute when Turnbull robbed Cammy Devlin on the edge of the box before feeding Jota, whose shot was saved by Gordon but fell into the path of Forrest.
It looked like a tap-in but Gordon lunged to play it on to the winger’s foot and off the base of the post.
A curling effort from Jota flew too high in the 21st minute and a quicklytaken free-kick saw Anthony Ralston’s low delivery across the six-yard box sliced over his own bar by John Souttar.
Gordon followed that up with a flying save to his right to touch away a McGregor drive and at that stage it looked like only a matter of time before
Celtic breached the maroon wall. By then Hearts had switched to a back four in a bid to stop Celtic’s wide men getting down the sides too easily.
But Jota in particular continued to get some joy although Kyogo at that stage had been kept in check well by Souttar and Craig Halkett.
In fact, Halkett almost scored an unlikely opener in a rare venture forward from the Jambos, the ball falling at his feet from a Kingsley freekick, but he could only strike his effort straight at Joe Hart.
But in the 33rd minute Hearts cracked and it was all about Ralston’s perseverance and Kyogo’s sharpness.
The right-back got the byeline for the umpteenth time and his low cross was stabbed home from six yards by the Japanese before Gordon could react.
It was a desperately tight offside call but the linesman’s flag stayed down and the goal stood. Ralston paid a price for his assist, injuring himself in the process, and had to be replaced by Adam Montgomery, giving Josip Juranovic the chance to switch to his favoured right-back berth.
The pattern of play didn’t change after the break. Hearts might have been a goal down but they struggled to get out of their own half as Celtic set about trying to double their advantage.
Neilson tried to do something about that by throwing Boyce into the mix but having his best striker on the pitch wouldn’t have mattered if they couldn’t get up the pitch.
And even before the Northern
Irishman could get on, his side could have been two down when a stunning move started by Montgomery at one end and ending with a deflected Turnbull shot that squirmed just wide.
Yet as the hour mark approached Hearts were still alive and should have levelled through Kingsley, who was given a free header at a Barrie McKay corner but nodded the effort wide.
It was as good a chance as the away side could have wished for.
Finally, there was some belief in the visiting ranks and with it came an edginess in the stands and on the pitch from Celtic. Boyce snatched at two loose balls in the box, the second of which deflected wide for a corner. McKay’s flag kick was headed over by Halkett, but now it was a contest.
And what had been a comfortable night for Celtic took a real turn for the worse when Jota pulled up in full flight, clearing suffering a hamstring injury.
The Portuguese was immediately replaced by Mikey Johnson but losing him for a period of time will be a huge blow to Postecoglou, who also lost Welsh to injury at the same time.
Celtic should have wrapped it up six minutes from time when Kyogo released Forrest only for Gordon to race off his line to block with his leg. Hearts raced to the other end and a surging run from MackaySteven ended with him stumbling in the box and as his team-mates screamed for a penalty it fell to McKay who smashed a low angled shot inches wide.
Neilson was booked by ref Bobby Madden for his protest at the no-penalty decision but TV replays showed the Hearts player appearing to clip his own heels.
That was to be their final opportunity but had they been more adventurous earlier they might have left with something to show for their efforts.