Brace for Bayo as he rejects Hearts claim

VaKOUN ISSOUF BaYO took ownership of his first two goals for Celtic amid claims from Hearts that their players got definitive final touches on them.

Handed his first start for the club by Neil Lennon yesterday, the Ivorian striker was credited with his side’s first and third goals in a 3-1 win which keeps Celtic at the top of the Premiership ahead of Sunday’s showdown at Ibrox.

after the game, however, Hearts boss Craig Levein revealed that both Christophe Berra and Craig Halkett owned up to getting the final touch on crosses either side of half-time by James Forrest and Kristoffer ajer. But Bayo, a

BY the time Hearts were boarding their bus back to Edinburgh, the identity of Celtic’s scorers on the day was threatening to turn into a diplomatic incident. Having consulted both Christophe Berra and Craig Halkett, Craig Levein had no reason to doubt that it was his defenders — and not Vakoun Issouf Bayo — who had got the final touches at the home side’s first and third goals. For the Hearts manager, though, whichever names appear on the scoresheet after being examined by the eagle eyes at the SPFL is virtually irrelevant. Two crosses were not stopped at source. Two defenders did not beat the Ivorian to the ball. Levein’s players may dispute the identity of the scorer on each occasion. But they were not minded to question their validity. ‘Christophe said it hit his hip. Halkett said it went in off his toe,’ he said. ‘I have watched it back and I agree with the boys. You have got to credit the striker with getting into the area and such like, but the facts are the ball has hit off our boys. But it doesn’t matter. My point was that we have assisted Celtic in their attempt to score goals. It is just frustrating. ‘We scored two own goals and gifted Celtic their other goal. They had five shots in the match. So, I am sitting here feeling that we shot ourselves in the foot. Celtic don’t need a hand when it comes to scoring goals and I felt that is what we did today, so I am hell of a frustrated.’ For half an hour, Levein (right) had cause to feel cautiously optimistic. Celtic naturally were enjoying the majority of the ball but rarely did his side look stretched. The moment James Forrest forced Berra and Bayo to contest a cross ball, the game turned. ‘Our game plan was obviously to try and hit on the counter attack,’ Levein added. ‘I thought we restricted Celtic very well in the match. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities. But, for me, if you come here and give Celtic five opportunities I would think that’s a fairly reasonable defensive display. ‘But we have scored two own goals and the third one is a silly mistake at the edge of the box.’ Amid the disappointment at a defeat that sees his side now sitting second bottom of the table with just one point from three games, Levein saw genuine signs of encouragement in the display. ‘There were a lot of things that were good today about our performance,’ he said. ‘But I find it difficult to look at that in the circumstances. ‘We have been here and got beat a lot worse than we did today, but today I feel ten times worse just because of the fact that we were in the game for long spells and we didn’t get out of the game what we should have done.’ Hearts’ chances were certainly not helped by an early injury to Michael Smith which saw Jamie Brandon sprung from the bench. ‘He had a tight hamstring during the week and he trained yesterday and said it was good,’ said the manager. ‘So obviously there is always an element of risk attached when a player has had a tight hamstring. He just said it tightened up and it felt like it was going to go, which would then be as bad as three months. So the decision was fairly easy to make. ‘But young Jamie went on and I thought he did really well. I thought a lot of our players played well today. It’s so frustrating to be saying that and at the same time be looking at a 3-1 score. ‘I thought Glenn Whelan got through the game well. It was hot enough sitting in the dugout, I certainly wouldn’t like to have been running around the pitch. ‘Overall, it is just pure frustration because I feel that a lot of things that we did today were really good, particularly the shape of the team and denying the opposition goalscoring opportunities, things that are key when you come here to get some points. But I’m frustrated.’