FALL FROM GRACE

Hearts continue to falter as Goncalves becomes the villain

FOR the second week running, Isma Goncalves was cheered by the Tynecastle support but this time the acclaim was entirely ironic.

The scorer of Hearts’ goal on the return to the stadium last weekend, the forward endured a wretched afternoon in front of goal and Craig Levein’s decision to substitute him late in the match was greeted with sarcastic applause from a section of this notoriously unforgiving support.

‘I thought Esmael did okay — he got himself in position to score,’ said Levein. ‘Maybe the frustration was that he didn’t score when he might have, which I understand. He will be the most disappointed one of all.’

Levein had warned that the return to the Gorgie ground would not offer a panacea to Hearts’ stuttering form and, perceptively, had voiced concern over how his players would react to playing in front of a tough crowd.

If the manager is itching for the January transfer window in order to remodel an imbalanced squad, he has no choice but to persist with the group he has through seven December fixtures — five of which will be played at home.

This was a more dominant display than in the 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle last week but they were restricted to long-range efforts by a Ross County team that is looking more determined and competitive under Owen Coyle.

Jim O’Brien defied the greasy conditions and set County on the attack early. The midfielder’s run was complemented by Alex Schalk, who peeled off to accept the pass and crash a shot back off Jon McLaughlin’s post.

Beaten by a quite stunning Leigh Griffiths free-kick last weekend, County goalkeeper Aaron McCarey had very little to do against Celtic. This was a far busier affair for the Irishman and, although the conditions may have played a part, his policy of beating away every ball caused some consternation in his defenders.

Most of Hearts’ shots were coming from distance, Jamie Walker missing on three occasions and Harry Cochrane forcing a save before Cole Stockton headed straight at the keeper.

Yet it was County who were unfairly denied the chance to take the lead when Schalk was ruled offside as he ran on to Sean Kelly’s pass. The flag was up long before the Dutchman applied a neat finish but replays suggested that full-back Michael Smith was playing Schalk onside.

Hearts chair Ann Budge may be preoccupied with the abundance of issues within Tynecastle’s impressive new main stand but, one week on from the opening, she would not have expected the electrics to falter elsewhere.

At one stage, both floodlights at the Roseburn end of the ground were out and, come half-time under a darkening sky, only one of those pylons illuminated the pitch. Referee John Beaton deemed the light levels sufficient, but the 15,601 souls present might have thought otherwise.

Levein was forced into a halftime change with Aaron Hughes being replaced by Prince Buaben. By that stage, County were also a centre-back down after captain Andrew Davies succumbed to injury. Neither team could capitalise although Hearts did produce a late, ill-fated flurry.

Christophe Berra rose to get his head to a Don Cowie corner and headed downwards at goal. McCarey produced an excellent stop and again denied Goncalves on the follow-up.

That was enough for Levein, who hooked the forward.

Walker leapt to the defence of his team-mate, saying: ‘There were a few times when Isma was a bit slow to react when the ball came back off their keeper but he has been the only one who has put the ball in the net.

‘He’ll have those days, as will everyone else. He just needs to keep his head up and go again.’

Goncalves’s replacement Kyle Lafferty came close with a freekick but the ball whistled wide and the day ended with more unusual goalkeeping from McCarey.

First, he flapped under a cross and looked ill-positioned as the ball fell to Cowie. The midfielder got his shot away and McCarey made the save by falling on the ball.