Pat Bonner noticed something Celtic did ‘quite well’ against Hearts despite suffering defeat

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Celtic suffered a body blow in their pursuit of the Scottish Premiership title yesterday in a 2-0 defeat to Heart of Midlothian.

VAR has dominated the headlines since the whistle was blown; however, it was a frustrating day for the Bhoys, who were reduced to ten men courtesy of a contentious red card involving Hyunjun Yang after a challenge on Alex Cochrane.

Republic of Ireland international Adam Idah missed a penalty before the incident, setting the tone for an afternoon Brendan Rodgers will be keen to forget.

Of course, Tomoki Iwata was later penalised for a controversial handball inside the Hearts area, leading to a spot-kick that Jorge Grant made no mistake in converting ahead of the interval.

Lawrence Shankland was able to take advantage of the space afforded to him in the second half, sliding home in the 56th minute to guarantee the home side all three points.

Speaking post-match, Celtic manager Rodgers signalled that his side will continue to fight for silverware this campaign.

He 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.”

Pat Bonner noticed one thing Celtic done ‘quite well’ in defeat

Despite the Hoops’ loss at Tynecastle, former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner thought that Kyogo Furuhashi and Idah linked up ‘quite well’ once the former was introduced into proceedings in the second half.

Bonner explained [Scottish Football Podcast]: “I thought Adam Idah and Kyogo linked up quite well together during the second half. But again, that second goal just finished it off for me.”

The former Republic of Ireland international does have a point, seeing as both players had chances to get the Hoops back into proceedings.

Overall, Celtic recorded an Expected Goals total of 2.42 to Hearts’ 1.65, alongside creating a superior amount of big chances [Fotmob].

Rodgers’ men edged the possession battle and took more shots, with 17 to the home side’s 14; however, their lack of a clinical edge returned to bite them.

This Sunday, the Bhoys play host to Livingston in the Scottish Cup quarter-final, which would be a good time to ensure they have their shooting boots on, given a place in the last four at Hampden is at stake.