What we learned as Celtic moved within touching distance of the finish line
Title a formality now as Parkhead side show their attacking intentions to come back against Hearts
WITH Rangers edging out Dundee United at Ibrox yesterday thanks to a second-half James Tavernier penalty and a late Amad Diallo strike, Celtic will need to wait a little longer to be crowned Scottish champions.
Yet, their coronation is a formality following their triumph over third-placed Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday.
So what did we learn from the top-flight leaders’ 41st victory of the 2021/22 season? And how are Hearts looking ahead of the Scottish Cup final on Saturday week? Here are five talking points...
CHAMPIONS AGAIN!
Technically, Celtic can still be overtaken by Rangers at the top of the Premiership table.
But it is deep into the arithmetic stage. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team are six points adrift with two games left – but their city rivals have a vastly superior goal difference and will not be caught.
The comfortable win over Hearts effectively, if not officially, wrapped up the Premiership trophy for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
The Celtic fans knew the significance of this result and were in full party mode from the minute that Matt O’Riley put them 3-1 in front in the second half.
The scenes on Tayside in midweek promise to be even more raucous if they can finally get over the line.
EASTERN INFLUENCE
The importance of Postecoglou’s Japanese signings to Celtic’s success this season cannot be understated.
Since arriving in January, Yosuke Ideguchi may have been used only sporadically by the Greek-Australian, who spent three-and-a-half seasons in charge of J-League outfit Yokohama F Marinos before moving to Scotland in the summer. But Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda have all proved their worth and then some.
The latter showed great composure to level the match against Hearts – who had taken the lead early on through Ellis Simms – in the first half after being supplied by Jota.
The former forced a Jota
header over the line to make it 2-1 shortly after. Maeda and Hatate came to this country immediately after completing the J-League season in December and have spoken of being physically fatigued in recent weeks. How will they fare next term after a summer break and a full pre-season behind them? If anything, their importance is only likely to increase.
GORDON PRIZE GUY
There were several strong contenders for the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award that was handed out last week.
However, Craig Gordon, the Hearts and Scotland goalkeeper, showed that he deserved to win for a record third occasion with his display against his former club on Saturday afternoon.
Yes, Robbie Neilson’s men may have lost fairly heavily. But the margin of victory would have been far greater had it not been for their captain, who denied David Turnbull, Furuhashi and Jota in the first half.
The 40-year-old is in a good place ahead of the Scottish Cup final against Rangers as well as the Qatar 2022 playoff semi-final against Ukraine next month.
PLAYMAKER RICHES
Postecoglou will bolster his squad further this summer ahead of Celtic’s eagerly anticipated return to the Champions League group stage next term. But he has, with O’Riley, Tom Rogic and Turnbull at his disposal, no great need to bring in another creative midfielder. All three were involved on Saturday, all three contributed to the win.
WHO NEEDS TECHNOLOGY?
The introduction of VAR to the Scottish game cannot come soon enough. Far too many bad decisions have been made in important games during this campaign. Yes, every team suffers from poor calls by match officials and the rulings tend to even themselves out over the course of the season. But referees need all the assistance they can get.
Not, though, on Saturday. Simms looked offside when he put the visitors in front in the third minute. But video replays show that Carl Starfelt’s outstretched leg had played him on when Liam Boyce fed the Hearts forward.
Gordon tried to claw the Furuhashi header that made it 2-1 out of his goal later in the half. But it was given and replays showed it had crossed the line. All in all, then, a good day for referee Don Robertson and his assistants Dougie Potter and Ross MacLeod. Or so you would have thought.
The Hearts keeper said: “It was about a millimetre over. How the linesman from 40 yards away can 100 per cent know that is over the line, I’m not entirely sure. I’ve no idea how he could see it or give the goal at that speed.
“He was winding me up coming up for the second half saying: ‘Good decision, good decision, eh?’ Fair enough, he backed his call. I thought at the time I had saved it. It happened so quickly. But for an eagle-eyed linesman, who miraculously managed to see that was over the line, it’s a good call.”
Gordon and his team-mates were aggrieved at the equaliser as they felt that Toby Sibbick had been fouled by Callum McGregor in the build-up.
“I cannot understand how it was not a free-kick at the other end of the pitch,” he said.