Text: STORYTELLER/MH - Photos: Archive & Celtic FC
Well, there was certainly no wiping the grin off someone’s face today! Three days after the sobering 4–1 defeat at Benfica Lisbon, Celtic FC looked like a completely different side today, sweeping Hearts of Midlothian off the pitch. One can only imagine the broad smile on Rod’s face.
To fully appreciate the significance of this afternoon, let us briefly turn back the clock to May this year.
Back then, Celtic Football Club and Heart of Midlothian went head-to-head in a genuine title decider on the final day of last season. Hearts went into the decisive match at Celtic Park as league leaders, one point clear, and a draw would have been enough to secure their first league title since 1960. However, Celtic won a dramatic encounter 3–1 and claimed the title for the 56th time.
Today, around five months later, the two rivals met again in Glasgow, and this time it was anything but a contest between equals.
For the Hoops, who had suffered four defeats in their last five matches, swept the men from the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, off the field by an astonishing 7–1 (5–1) – much to the delight of singer and Celtic fan Sir Rod Stewart. Faced with the fireworks his Bhoys were setting off on the pitch, he simply could not stop cheering and had to spring up from his customary seat in the stands more often than he might have liked.
Recently, Rod had asked manager O’Neill to make a few changes to the line-up. “Martin, we need to play Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle. We’re lacking a bit of cutting edge there, mate. We need to play Hasseim Hassan on one wing, Callum Osmond on the other, and Duran right up front,” the singer had said he wanted.
Well, Oxlade-Chamberlain did not make the starting eleven, but Mister Stewart was no doubt perfectly happy with the rest of the manager’s personnel decisions. Especially as things went really swimmingly for his men in green and white this afternoon.
By half-time, in front of more than 60,000 spectators at the sold-out Celtic Park, the result was practically in the bag.
The home side, managed by Martin O’Neill, were already comfortably ahead after 45 minutes. Kieran Tierney (7th), Benjamin Nygren (10th) and Callum Osmond (36th and 38th) fired Celtic into a commanding 4–0 lead before Laurent Mandy pulled one back for the visitors (41st). However, just before the break, an own goal by Jamie McCart made it 5–1 at half-time (45+1).
And in the second half, the ball was soon rattling around in the net of Hearts goalkeeper Beau Reus once again, as Camilo Duran made it half a dozen just minutes after the restart (49th).
After that, the Bhoys in Green took things a little more easily. That did not stop Nygren from completing his brace in the 83rd minute to make it 7–1, the final score. The Swede now sits at the top of the Premiership scoring charts with six goals.
In the table, the Hoops now sit at the top, four points clear of arch-rivals Rangers.
In Glasgow, it is likely to be a long evening for many fans in the city’s countless pubs, and our own little “party animal”, Rod, will most certainly be treating himself to a drink or two in honour of his Bhoys.
Kommentar hinzufügen
Kommentare