Celtic will need to recover from a bruising loss to Heart of Midlothian that has left Brendan Rodgers’ men two points behind Rangers in the race for the Scottish Premiership title.
VAR has become the main talking point of a match fraught with controversy, though the Bhoys also didn’t help themselves in other aspects at Tynecastle.
Republic of Ireland international Adam Idah’s early penalty miss set the tone for a frustrating afternoon in the capital, with his central strike swept away by the trailing leg of Zander Clark.
Of course, Hyunjun Yang was sent off for the visitors in the immediate aftermath of the spot-kick for a perceived high boot on Alex Cochrane, who was the culprit for the Hoops’ earlier award.
Despite Don Robertson initially dishing out a yellow card, the 37-year-old upgraded his decision and brandished a straight red following further consultation with VAR.
Before Robertson sounded for half-time, Hearts were granted a chance from the spot amid Tomoki Iwata being penalised for a handball offence, which has since created an outcry that isn’t likely to subside in the immediate future
Jorge Grant capitalised on the opportunity, and Lawrence Shankland condemned Celtic to their eighth instance of dropped points inside 29 league matches in the 56th minute.
Nevertheless, Hoops manager Rodgers vowed to continue fighting for silverware in the midst of a day where not much went right from his perspective.
The Irishman stated: “It’s still very much in our hands. We’ve got 12 games to go. Nine league games and we want to be in the cup final on the 25th of May. We will fight for every competition we will be in.”
Cameron Carter-Vickers provides Celtic dressing room insight
Cameron Carter-Vickers returned to the backline for just his second start since making his comeback from injury at Motherwell earlier this month [Transfermarkt].
The United States international indicated that his teammates retain a belief in the dressing room that trophy-winning success can occur if they continue to focus on matters within their ‘control’ over the coming weeks.
Cited via STV News, Carter-Vickers also pointed to the fact Celtic are still to face Rangers twice as a source of internal belief, stating: “Whether we won that game or not, what we have to do for the rest of the season is pretty clear. We will just focus on that.”
He later added: “I thought for large parts we were probably the team that created the better chances (against Hearts). We have just got to have faith that if we keep doing that, then we will pick up the results that we want.
“We have also got to play each other (Rangers) twice. Clearly, nothing is done yet. For us, it is about focusing on ourselves and what we can control and trying to be the best versions of ourselves that we can.”
Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has the correct attitude
Granted, this season has been one with plenty of highs and lows; however, nothing is set in stone, and we have nine league matches to prove our mettle as potential league winners.
This weekend, the Bhoys take on Livingston at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup quarter-final, presenting an opportunity to progress to the final four at Hampden, which would generate some positive momentum ahead of the run-in.
Undoubtedly, bringing either trophy back won’t be an easy endeavour for Rodgers and company; nevertheless, there is still every possibility that a domestic double could arrive by the time the campaign draws to a close.
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