SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL/Celtic 0 Hearts 1:THE SENSE of unease surrounding Tony Mowbray's reign as the Celtic manager intensified last night as a Michael Stewart penalty was sufficient to send Heart of Midlothian into the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup.
Hearts rode their luck, yet this will prove a bitter blow to Mowbray.
To make matters worse, Celtic captain Stephen McManus was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for a shocking lunge on Andrew Driver.
It is Georgios Samaras, though, who will be regarded as Celtic’s fall guy. The striker, on as a substitute to save the tie, missed three gilt-edged chances.
Celtic may sit at the top of the Scottish Premier League, but their manager has hardly struggled to source his critics during the opening weeks of his tenure. Mowbray, moreover, has agitated some of his squad by openly questioning their quality.
Vladimir Romanov, Hearts’ colourful yet now seldom-spotted majority shareholder, made a surprise visit to Edinburgh on Tuesday to hand his players an early-season pep talk.
Christian Nade came within a desperate Andreas Hinkel clearance of proving Romanov had not made a wasted journey just 30 seconds into proceedings. It took Celtic a further 25 minutes to register a meaningful reply, Shaun Maloney shooting tamely at Janos Balogh.
The Hearts goalkeeper produced a more impressive stop to deny Chris Killen, three minutes before the interval. Ismael Bouzid had already passed up the finest chance of the opening period, heading wide of the Celtic goal.
If Mowbray introduced Paddy McCourt at half-time to lift the pace of a dour struggle, it was a move which had the desired effect. The former Derry City man, regarded by many as the most naturally talented player at Celtic, endorsed such a theory with a superb 52nd minute run that culminated in an angled drive rattling the Hearts crossbar.
Danny Fox clumsily challenged Nade inside the penalty area, an error which left referee Craig Thomson no option. Stewart did the rest from 12 yards – intriguingly choosing not to celebrate at all thereafter.
CELTIC: Zaluska, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Daniel Fox, McGeady, Crosas, Zhi, N’Guemo, Maloney, Killen. Subs: Cervi, McDonald, Samaras, Wilson, McCourt.
HEARTS: Balogh, Craig Thomson, Bouzid, Goncalves, Wallace, Obua, Black, Michael Stewart, Palazuelos, Driver, Nade. Subs: Kello, Jonsson, Witteveen, Kucharski, Glen.
Referee: C Thompson (Scotland).
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