Celtic 1-0 Heart of Midlothian

From Hearts Media at Celtic Park.

A first half strike by Georgios Samaras was enough to hand Celtic a 1-0 win over Hearts on Sunday afternoon, condemning Hearts to their second successive Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat.

John McGlynn was boosted by the return of Andy Webster as partnered Captain Marius Zaliukas in defence, resulting in Darren Barr being moved into central midfield in place of Scott Robinson.

Celtic, fresh from their midweek Champions League win in Moscow, looked confident during the opening stages and Hearts had Jamie Macdonald to thank for keeping the scores level when Charlie Mulgrew played a one-two inside the box before hitting a low shot at the keeper.

The two were involved again minutes later as Macdonald dived forward to prevent the midfielder from connecting with a header, but the keeper suffered a nasty head injury in the process and was subsequently stretchered off with a concussion.

This paved the way for Peter Enckelman to make his first appearance in a Maroon jersey, but he found himself picking the ball out of the net on the half hour mark as Samaras raced clear of Webster before hitting a low shot into the back of the net via the keeper's thigh.

Prior to that, Callum Paterson had wasted a glorious chance to put the Jambos in front as he sliced the ball wide from six yards out after Andy Driver had done well to steal the ball deep inside the Celtic box.

The second half was a far more subdued affair as the Jambos failed to raise the tempo of the game, with Celtic happy to knock the ball around midfield. Hearts introduced John Sutton early on after Paterson picked up a knock, but the Englishmen failed to make an impact against a well organised Celtic back four.

McGlynn's men enjoyed plenty of the ball but lacked both precision and imagination in the final third, rarely penetrating the Celtic rear guard. They threatened to split the home defence in the 80th minute when Driver was released by Ryan Stevenson, but his shot was deflected out for a corner.

The Jambos continued to push forward and came agonisingly close in the 92nd minute when Driver picked up the ball to the left of goal before dragging a shot inches wide of the far post.

The Gorgie side will feel that a point was well within their reach, but Neil Lennon's men held on to claim the three points, sending Hearts into the international break on the back of two straight league defeats.

Celtic: Forster; Lustig (Miku 79), Ambrose, Wilson, Izaguirre; Forrest, Wanyama, Mulgrew (Ledley 31), Samars; Commons, Hooper (Kayal 69). Subs not used: Zaluska, McCourt, Lassad, McGeouch.

Hearts: Macdonald (Enckelman 13); R.McGowan, Zaliukas, Webster, Grainger; Driver, Taouil, Barr, Novikovas (Robinson 75), Stevenson; Paterson (Sutton 52). Subs not used: G.Smith, D.McGowan, McHattie, Carrick.

Referee: Craig Thomson

Top man: Mehdi Taouil

Hearts World