TALKING CELTIC STAND UP FOR BREN
Rodgers laughing as his Hoops side pass Lisbon Lions’ mark
BRENDAN Rodgers spent a night at a comedy club last week in Glasgow. He was still chuckling this morning after watching his Celtic side beat Hearts 4-0 and eclipse a 50-year record established by the Lisbon Lions.
Celtic’s win over Hearts through goals from Callum McGregor, a double from Scott Sinclair and a Patrick Roberts strike took them another step towards a title that is being won with the Parkhead side barely breaking sweat.
With 27 games unbeaten domestically now under their belt, the question is just who will have the wherewithal to stop Rodgers’ side.
And while few would be silly enough to measure the achievements of the current side against the vaunted and much celebrated Lions, it is a run of results that reflects well on what Rodgers has instilled at Celtic.
With 59 league goals this season, this is a Celtic side who are as far beyond the rest of the pack as their 22-point lead would suggest.
Whatever that says about the standard of the league or the quality of fare on offer, it ought not to take the shine off a show of dominance and consistency.
In Kieran Tierney, back last week after a three-month lay-off, the Parkhead side have a 19-yearold full-back who seems destined to play at the very top level.
Athleticism aside, in terms of his ability to spend 90 minutes running, Tierney’s delivery from the flank created two of Celtic’s goals – but he was a persistent menace throughout the game.
The superlatives have all been used for the teenager but his fine display was also matched by Cristian Gamboa on the opposite side.
The steadiness of Mikael Lustig has kept the Costa Rican on the bench for much of his time at Celtic but his display against Hearts gave the Hoops support a glimpse of what he can offer.
Given that Celtic started the game without an established striker in the squad – Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths both sat out because of injury – few might have expected such a dominant scoreline.
HEARTS made a decent fist of it for long spells before the roof ultimately caved in on the Gorgie side. Had Malaury Martin shown a little more composure just before the hour mark when the score was still poised at just 1-0 it might have been a different story.
Celtic, though, eventually got their second goal and were emphatic thereafter in turning the screw.
The injuries to Dembele and Griffiths were not the only unforeseen problems that Rodgers had to deal with.
Stuart Armstrong took a knock in the warm-up meaning that McGregor was propelled into the starting XI at the last minute.
And to be fair to the midfielder, he did not disappoint. Given a central role, it was the 23-year-old who broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark of a game that Celtic had dominated without creating too many genuine opportunities.
After Nir Bitton scorned a decent chance in the early stages, McGregor collected from Scott Sinclair to flick a shot off the inside of the post and into the net. As the game got under-
way after the break, James Forrest ought to have doubled the hosts’ advantage when Gamboa flicked the ball through for the winger to collect, but he dithered too long allowing Liam Smith time to intervene.
Roberts stung the palms of Jack Hamilton with an effort from distance, while Martin deservedly went into the book for a kick at Forrest.
CELTIC put on Liam Henderson for Forrest as they looked to increase their lead and the midfielder almost had a hand in setting up a second.
It was Henderson who supplied Roberts, whose dinked arching shot from the edge of the box flew just wide of the target.
As Celtic quickly countered after Craig Gordon had foiled Martin – the goalkeeper’s only real involvement in the game – they really ought to have doubled their advantage.
It was Tierney’s drive down the left that got the ball across to the back post where Sinclair put his attempt wide.
It was a stay of execution for Hearts, though, as Celtic’s persistence paid off.
Tierney’s ball across goal was palmed away by Hamilton to the feet of Aaron Hughes inside his own six-yard box. The defender allowed the ball to ping off him straight to the feet of Sinclair who slid in to bundle the ball over the line. Within minutes Hearts’ outlook got acutely worse as Roberts netted the he pick of the day with a fine driving effort high into the net, a goal that again came down to the movement and delivery of Tierney on the flank. Henderson, too, had been inv volved in the bu build-up, shipping th the ball out to the Sc Scotland internati tionalist who sent it in for Roberts to las lash home. J Jack Aitchison, wh who became the clu club’s youngest-ever sco scorer when he netted ono the final day of last s season, came on for th the final minutes to win a penalty that Sinclai Sinclair duly converted for his 15th goal of the season. Cue s miles and applause all round.