Hearts big win v Celtic: Clark, brilliant Beni, back three

The game was shaped by refereeing decisions and VAR in the first half. The visitors got a controversial penalty early on. After that was missed, Hyun-Jun Yang, who won the penalty, was sent off for serious foul play following a VAR intervention. Hearts then got a penalty of their own when VAR got involved again, adjudging Tomoki Iwata to have handled in the box. Jorge Grant converted from the spot. 

The home side thought they had gone two up before the interval only for VAR to intervene once more with Lawrence Shankland narrowly offside. The Hearts No.9, however, would secure the victory with a strike in the second half.

Joel and James look back at an eventful afternoon in Gorgie.

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Big result, bigger reaction

Supporters could be forgiven for approaching this game with a sense of trepidation. After all, Celtic would surely come flying out of the traps following Rangers’ home defeat to Motherwell on Saturday. Hearts’ underwhelming display in the derby midweek, and the capitulation at Ibrox a few days earlier, brought fans back down to Earth after the two months or so where the team could practically do no wrong.

If those two results were a reality check for supporters, then this one will surely have them dreaming of bigger and better things once again. Hearts were the better team from start to finish at Tynecastle, and worthy winners in every sense. But more than the result, it was the players’ reaction that really stood out against Celtic.

Hearts had meekly surrendered against Rangers without laying a glove on Philippe Clement’s league leaders. They didn’t really get going at all against Hibs and were lucky to escape with a point. The manner of the performances, more than the final results, were what really hurt.

Naismith needed a reaction from his players. And that’s exactly what he got.

Naismith gets his fast start

It’s no secret that Hearts have often been a little sluggish out of the traps this season, and Naismith urging his players to be aggressive and on the front foot from the get-go has been a regular feature of pre-match press conferences. Usually, it hasn’t worked out that way – but that wasn’t the case against Celtic.

Hearts were on it from the first minute against the champions, and the home crowd responded accordingly. Every successful tackle was met with a roar of approval from the stands, while a few dodgy calls from the referee early on helped to dial up the intensity. The men in maroon pressed high up the park to prevent Celtic building out from the back, and the result was that the visitors found themselves penned in.

The belief among the home support only grew when Zander Clark denied Adam Idah from the penalty spot, and it was soon overflowing when Celtic were reduced to 10 men. That belief from the stands filtered its way down to the players on the park, and Hearts were asking some awkward questions of their opponents.

The relationship between the fans and the players is symbiotic in nature; one encourages the other. If the players give the crowd something to believe in, something to get behind, then the supporters will repay the favour. It quickly becomes a virtuous circle – and that’s exactly what happened in Gorgie.

The strong start set the tempo for what was to follow, and the momentum was with Hearts from the off. It raised the belief of everyone in the stadium – and that confidence was reinforced when Jorge Grant stroked the ball home from the penalty spot to give Hearts a deserved lead.

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Defensive trio

How would Hearts cope without Frankie Kent, the leader of the defence? It is a topic we broached in the lead-up to the game, pointing out the Englishman's impact since joining. It turns out the team coped very, very well. Collectively and individually.

The last time the teams met at Tynecastle Park the back four was pulled apart. The defensive trio offered more solidity. They covered each other, their distances were good and Kye Rowles and Stephen Kingsley took turns at the left and centre of the three.

Each deserves praise on an individual basis. Toby Sibbick featured for just the third time this year and barely put a foot wrong. The only time he times he did were a loose pass here and there. Defensively he used his body well, was aggressive and gave more pace to the defence behind Dexter Lembikisa with Daizen Maeda operating in that zone.

Kye Rowles was poor against Rangers. He was hooked at half-time and didn't start the derby. He appeared to not only learn his lesson from up against Cyriel Dessers but also want to prove a point. He dealt with Adam Idah's physicality really well, going up against him constantly and engaging at every opportunity. It was a battle he won time and again. 

The most amount of praise should be reserved for Kingsley. The No.3 got a knock early on and it looked like he may have needed to be replaced when he clipped a pass out the park and took a moment to settle. He was somewhat hampered physically through the rest of the game but that didn't diminish his performance. He was strong, assertive and determined. It was a display from someone with brilliant character and attitude. 

Baningime leads from the front

Hearts’ numerical advantage after Yang’s dismissal certainly made life easier for the men in maroon, and Celic struggled to build out from the back as a result. But even before then, the visitors had a big problem playing out from defence. And that problem’s name was Beni Baningime.

The No.6 was utterly instrumental on Sunday afternoon. Rather than sitting at the base of midfield when Celtic were playing out from the back, he pushed right up beyond his fellow midfielders Calem Nieuwenhof and Jorge Grant to effectively man-mark Tomoki Iwata. It often left the visitors with nowhere to go, and many a Celtic attack was snuffed out before it could get going.

Baningime’s composure with the ball at his feet is his greatest asset, but it was his work off the ball that truly caught the eye against Rodgers’ men. His role in Lawrence Shankland’s chopped-off goal was the clearest example. Iwata dallied on the ball, Baningime snuck up behind and expertly dispossessed him – taking a sore one in the process – and a few seconds later, the ball was in the back of the net.

It didn’t count on that occasion, but it showed how effective Baningime was. At half-time, no other player on the park had won the ball back more than the 25-year-old, and doing it so far up the park allowed Hearts to catch Celtic on the counter before the defence could get organised.

Baningime can sometimes fly under the radar, but you quickly notice when he isn’t in the team. He does the simple stuff very, very well – as Celtic discovered to their detriment. When subbed late on he got a deserved standing ovation.

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Front two

Alan Forrest and Lawrence Shankland reprised their double act of Celtic Park for a sequel. They once more worked so well in tandem. Forrest scurried around, while Shankland was a release valve when the ball went into his feet.

Out of possession, they worked hard to get themselves in positions to make it difficult for Celtic to build up. Importantly, in possession they were productive. Forrest, as always, was direct, looking to run at, down the sides of and in behind the Celtic defence. Sometimes he was guilty of playing with his head down and not releasing the ball sooner but the work he gives the team within the system is invaluable. 

Forrest should have played in Shankland a second sooner for the goal that got disallowed in the first half. But the No.9 got his goal with a typically clinical finish in the second half and could have had a second when Forrest stood a cross up to the back post.

There was a surprise when it was Jorge Grant who took the penalty with Joe Hart seemingly having words with the Hearts striker. But it certainly wasn't the wrong decision with the midfielder finding the back of the net.

Zander, Zander Clark

The recent 5-0 defeat at Ibrox raised questions amongst the Hearts support as to whether the time was right to bring back Craig Gordon. A natural reaction with the view that the club's best goalkeeper is on the bench.

Speaking to Sky Sports in the build up to the game at Tynecastle Park, Steven Naismith said that with Gordon's return from injury they had started pushing one another with Clark getting to a point where he is "beyond" where the Hearts head coach had seen him at the start of the season. He added that his decision as to who plays is "solely down to who I think deserves the jersey". 

Clark has come up with some big moments this season, but none bigger than the penalty save to deny Martin Boyle in the derby at Easter Road. He produced another one in the win over Celtic. While the save wasn't as impressive as the one in Leith it was still hugely important. As mentioned, Hearts had started strongly but were in danger of having an early hill to climb when the visitors were given the penalty. He came up big.

The goalkeeper came up with more key moments in the second half as well with three saves at important times in the game to maintain Hearts' lead.

Celtic double

Michael Stewart. Ismael Bouzid. Michael Stewart again. The goal scorers the last time Hearts beat Celtic in back-to-back games. The 2009/10 season. The last time Hearts defeated Celtic twice in the same season was a certain 2011/12 campaign that ended in Scottish Cup success.