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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Ryan McDougall

Hearts fans nervous but confident they can win title clash

Heart of Midlothian fans leaving the stadium after Wednesday’s game against Falkirk (Jane Barlow/PA) - (PA Wire)

Hearts and Celtic fans are eagerly awaiting the league title clash later on Saturday.

The Scottish Premiership decider, taking place at Celtic Park in Glasgow, kicks off at 12.30 and if Hearts win it would mark the first time for 66 years that they have taken the trophy.

Should they win, Hearts are expected to celebrate on the streets of Edinburgh on Sunday.

Celtic have no official event if they win, with Police Scotland stating on Friday the team had not put any plans in place for official celebrations.

Lawrence Shankland opened the scoring in the title showdown (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

An earlier match between Celtic and Motherwell stirred some controversy over a penalty disputed by fans.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested and charged after referee John Beaton had his personal details leaked in the wake of the penalty, Police Scotland said.

Ahead of the game, Hearts fans packed out pubs around their team’s stadium in Edinburgh.

One of those in the Athletic Arms, a Hearts-supporting pub near Tynecastle also known as The Diggers, was Hans-Peter Hauck, who had travelled from his home near Frankfurt for the match.

Wearing a maroon-and-white scarf, he said he had been a Hearts fan more more than 20 years and has visited Scotland from Germany several times to watch the Edinburgh side’s games.

Celtic’s Arne Engels scored from the penalty spot (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

He told Press Association: “I’m very excited, I hope they get a draw or a win. I wish the Old Firm to be broken.”

He said he had been drawn to support Hearts “because of the badge, the name and the colour”.

Father and son Max and Mikel Rusak are both anxious about the game, with Dad Mikel joking: “I’m very nervous. I can’t bare to watch the game that much.

He added: “If Hearts win, regardless of all the controversy and what’s happened in the games leading to that final. I think it will be a beautiful story.”

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