Ange-ball gets slowed down
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was fairly dismissive of the impact that VAR’s introduction would have on the Premiership but this encounter at Tynecastle demonstrated that the technology will have knock-on effects.
It is no secret that Postecoglou wants the ball in play as much as possible for the duration of the match, and the Greek-Australian’s team have a habit of restarting play almost instantly. But the delays caused by VAR checks resulted in a few periods of a minute or two where the players were left standing idly as they waited for a decision to be made.
For a team that like to catch their opponents off-guard and out of shape, they will have to get used to slowing things down on occasion.
Jenz endures afternoon to forget
The German centre-half has been a fairly steady pair of hands since arriving in the summer but Moritz Jenz will want to move on this performance quickly. The 23-year-old looked a little unconvincing in possession in the face of Hearts’ high press but it was in his own area where the damage was done.
Jenz gave Hearts a way back into the game with an ill-judged challenge in the box that resulted in a spot-kick, allowing the hosts to make it 3-3. It was a clumsy effort on Cameron Devlin shortly after Daizen Maeda had restored the visitors’ lead, made all the more rash by the fact that he had already been shown a yellow card in the first half.
He was lucky to avoid a second yellow for the second penalty decision – had it been awarded, it would have left his team-mates with a mountain to climb.
Celtic show their mettle
It would have been easy for this game to slip away from the champions. After being denied a stonewall penalty right at the end of the first half, Lawrence Shankland nudged Hearts ahead within minutes of the restart.
Barely 10 minutes had elapsed before Celtic turned the game to their advantage and then, within minutes, more adversity arrived as Shankland sealed his hat-trick with a re-taken penalty to tie the game at 3-3.
Postecoglou’s men weren’t deterred, though, and eventually found a winner through substitute Greg Taylor. They had to work ever-so-hard for it but in the end they secured a valuable three points in testing circumstances in the capital.
