Perhaps for the first time in history, the winners of the Glasgow derby between Rangers and Celtic at the weekend were Heart of Midlothian.
The Premiership leaders won their match on Saturday by beating Aberdeen 1-0, thanks to a Claudio Braga goal, and it allowed Hearts to watch their rivals fight it out on Sunday.
Braga admitted that, first and foremost, the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is just ‘a good game to watch’, but he was ‘tense’ watching it all unfold at Ibrox.
“It’s a good game to watch, first,” stated Braga. “But at the same time, it’s a direct opponent. So you watch it a little bit more tense.”
Celtic’s point at Rangers means that the title is still in Hearts’ hands because, even if Martin O’Neill’s side win their game in hand against Aberdeen on Wednesday night, they are still five points behind the Jambos.
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Claudio Braga’s honest thoughts on Hearts’ Premiership title rivals Celtic and Rangers
One thing can’t be denied, and that’s the fact that Hearts are dealing with the pressure by winning again and again.
But of course, there is still a long way to go, and everyone knows the power the champions of Scotland hold; at the end of the day, Celtic have dominated in recent times for a reason.
The post-split fixtures are going to be very interesting, as Braga opened up on Premier Sports about watching Celtic’s draw at Rangers in a nervous manner.
Darrell Currie: “You got your job done, then you could just watch Rangers v Celtic. What are you like watching the opponents if you like? The teams trying to chase you down, are you calm? Are you one of these crazy football fans when you are watching?”
Braga: “It’s a good game to watch, first. But at the same time, it’s a direct opponent. So you watch it a little bit more tense.
“But if we always get our result, then we don’t need to worry about the other results. I am not going to lie. This result is maybe good for us, but if we do our game, then that’s the only thing that matters.”
Braga is showing Celtic what they have missed out on
Celtic have had striker issues for over a year now, and have been looking for that regular goalscorer ever since Kyogo Furuhashi departed last January.
You even had the situation where January signing Junior Adamu was hooked off at half-time, again, by O’Neill, whilst Tomas Cvancara remained unused at Ibrox.
It perhaps sums up how Celtic have really struggled in the forward department, with Daizen Maeda’s form falling off a cliff this season.
In the meantime, Hearts signed Braga from Norwegian second-tier side Aalesunds FK for around £400k, and he would walk into Celtic’s team now.
- Premiership games for Hearts: 29
- Goals: 12
- Assists: 5
- Goals and assists against Celtic, Rangers and Motherwell: 10
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