Hearts kick fair play into touch
Shortly after Fraser Forster had saved Eggart Jonsson’s penalty Daniel Majstorovic was lying injured in the Celtic penalty box with Hearts in possession, attacking down the left wing.
Cha Du Ri managed to dispossess Andrew Driver before playing the ball to Georgios Samaras who rolled the ball out of play to allow Majstorovic to recover.
With no rules governing this action it has always been a bit of a grey area with players expected to respect the well-being of their fellow professionals. Twice earlier in the match Calum Murray had stopped play to allow Hearts players treatment with Celtic playing the ball back from uncontested drop-balls.
Despite knowing that the ball had been played out to allow Majstorovic treatment Jonsson then launched a long throw into the Celtic box demonstrating that it’s win at all costs for the Edinburgh side even if none of their players are likely to see a draw bonus in their pay packet anytime soon.
Most players will usually return the ball to opponents in such circumstances but perhaps some sort of declaration or statement is needed from managers or the Players Union. Any team playing against Hearts should now be aware that in the closing minutes of a match the Edinburgh side are unlikely to return the ball after gaining possession from an opponents injury.
The last ten minutes of play from yesterday’s match certainly makes for interesting viewing with referee Calum Murray getting very close to losing control of the match with a number of blunders in the closing stages.
While Victor Wanyama’s arm was up as he rose to challenge Ryan Stevenson it would be physically impossible for the defender to have struck the ball with the force that it travelled with off Stephenson’s head.
If Murray felt that it was deliberate handball Wanyama should have been booked or sent off if he was denying the Hearts striker a goalscoring opportunity.
Jonsson twice misplaced the ball on the penalty spot with Samaras having to point that out to Murray who seemed incapable of doing the most basic part of his job having earlier spotted a hand-ball that few others noticed.
Deep into injury time Ryan McGowan cynically slid into the calf of James Forrest in the centre circle and escaped any punishment for a foul more cynical than the 61st minute challenge that had earned him a yellow card.
Murray seemed to be overwhelmed by the incidents late in the match, similar to his display in the February Scottish Cup replay between Celtic and Rangers where he was twice manhandled by Madjid Bougherra without taking any action against the Rangers defender.
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