Celtic victims of late larceny

Wim Jansen, Celtic's head coach, demonstrated remarkable forbearance after his team were the victims of outrageous larceny.

Not only were Celtic overwhelmingly superior to Hearts throughout a pulsating match, scoring through Jackie McNamara, but they had two goals disallowed, hit the crossbar twice and squandered a series of opportunities before the Hearts substitute, Jose Quitongo, equalised in the third minute of stoppage time.

Jansen spoke quietly of his "disappointment" at the result, a mild description in the circumstances. He would not even be lured into questioning the referee Bobby Tait's sense of timing.

The official had consulted his watch several times in the minute or so before Quitongo's improbable equaliser. "Maybe the match was just a few seconds too long for us" said Jansen. "But that's how it is in this game. You have to keep at it till the finish."

February may prove to be the cruellest month for Celtic, as their performance at Tynecastle should have given them a two-point lead in the Premier Division. Instead, Rangers were left at the top on goal difference, with Celtic and Hearts both on 49 points.

Even the two previous victories Celtic had gained over Hearts this season could not have prepared the home fans for the authority with which the Glasgow club went about their work on this occasion.

After an early flurry from Hearts, Celtic took control in every area and Morten Wieghorst was the first to claim he had been badly treated. The big Dane took possession after a corner from McNamara and drilled a left-foot drive past young Roddy McKenzie. He pleaded innocence when the goal was disallowed for handling. It appeared harsh and television evidence was inconclusive.

Still, McNamara appeared to have begun the march to victory when he scored five minutes before the interval. Brattbakk, who would later miss four golden opportunities of his own, came in from the left and supplied Henrik Larsson.

The Swede claimed a penalty as he was hit by Ritchie, but the ball ran to McNamara, whose rightfoot shot from six yards slid past McKenzie.

It was what occurred in the second half, however, that induced the anguish in the visiting support. Brattbakk's "goal" was quite properly disallowed for offside, but it served only to underline the misses the Norwegian perpetrated during a bad patch.

Left unchallenged three times inside the area, he delayed his effort so long on each occasion that he was worried out of position by back-tracking defenders. Craig Burley's volley dipped on to the crossbar and Stephane Mahe's powerful drive would have clinched victory had not McKenzie managed to tip it against the bar.

Quitongo, who had replaced Stefano Salvatori in the 64th minute and been given little room by Mahe, arrived in the box in the third minute of stoppage time to send his drive off Mahe and away from Jonathan Gould, who seemed to have the ball covered.

That was the ultimate cruelty on a team who had done enough to have embarrassed opponents who were subdued for all but a couple of significant seconds.

Dick Advocaat is expected to succeed Walter Smith as the manager of Rangers. The PSV Eindhoven and former Holland coach has said the Ibrox club has made an approach and that he will probably accept their offer.

Some uncertainty, however, surrounds the new development with a PSV spokesman claiming that the club would hold him to his contract, which has 18 months to run.

David Murray, the Rangers chairman, is refusing to answer questions on the matter, but it is understood that Advocaat, who won the Dutch title with PSV last season, will take over when Smith leaves at the end of the season.

Advocaat will find, on recent evidence, that he has quite a job on his hands if he is to fulfil his reported vow of turning Rangers into a force in Europe.

Saturday's dull 1-1 draw with Dunfermline was further evidence of a team in decline. When Harry Curran, the Dunfermline substitute, equalised Sergio Porrini's second-half goal for Rangers, it meant the Scottish champions had dropped eight points in five games in 1998.

HEARTS: McKenzie, Locke, Naysmith, Weir, McPherson, Ritchie, McCann, Fulton, Adam (Hamilton 80), Cameron (Flogel 80), Salvatori (Quitongo 64). Booked: Ritchie. Goals: Quitongo 89.

CELTIC: Gould, Annoni, Mahe, McNamara, Rieper, Stubbs, Larsson, Burley, Brattbakk (Jackson 85), Lambert, Wieghorst. Subs Not Used: Donnelly, Hannah. Booked: Annoni, Burley, Lambert. Goals: McNamara 40. Att: 17,657.

Ref: B Tait (East Kilbride).