Seven Against Hearts, Two Conceded to Celta: Which Celtic Is the Real One?
Jonathan Fear 
Seven goals against Hearts on Sunday. A European defeat to Celta Vigo on Thursday. Celtic Park witnessed two very different performances in four days.
Martin O’Neill kept faith with almost the same outfield players for both games. Mika Baur scored against the Spaniards, but Javi Rodríguez struck twice in three minutes to turn the match around. The question now concerns Celtic’s ability to defend when the opposition refuses to sit back.
The Hearts Result Changed Expectations
Hearts conceded seven at Celtic Park on 18 October. Camilo Durán, Callum Osmand and Haissem Hassan were among the scorers, with Benjamin Nygren adding another late in the game.
Celtic’s seven goals against Hearts made them look difficult to stop. Yet domestic form does not always carry over into Europe, where opponents play at a different tempo. Bettors face a similar challenge when comparing teams across leagues. English Premier League betting (Spordipanused Inglise kõrgliigale in Estonian) involves different teams and match conditions from Scottish football. Against Celta, Celtic had far less room to attack than they enjoyed against Hearts.
Hearts struggled to contain Celtic’s movement. Against Celta, Celtic faced longer spells without possession and had fewer chances to attack through the middle.
How Celtic Lost Their Lead Against Celta
O’Neill altered only one position from the Hearts starting eleven. Sam Johnstone replaced Viljami Sinisalo in goal.
The remaining ten players started again, including Colby Donovan, Dane Murray, Liam Scales and Kieran Tierney across the defence.
Celtic took the lead through Baur in the 47th minute. Hassan reached the byline, delivered a cross and Baur finished the loose ball.
Then came the costly spell. According to Celtic’s official match report, the decisive moments included:
- 47th minute: Baur scored to put Celtic ahead.
- 63rd minute: Scales headed against the crossbar.
- 68th minute: Rodríguez equalised with a header from a set-piece delivery.
- 71st minute: Rodríguez scored again from outside the penalty area.
Celta finished with 22 attempts to Celtic’s eight. Both sides registered four shots on target.
The Right Side Needs Attention
Hassan caused problems going forward and supplied the cross that led to Baur’s goal. Donovan, meanwhile, faced long spells defending against Celta’s attacking movement.
The Spanish side enjoyed 56% possession, forcing Celtic to spend more time without the ball than against Hearts.
Rodríguez’s first goal followed a delivery from Hugo Álvarez. His second came after Celtic failed to prevent a shot from outside the area. Those incidents deserve more examination than the final score alone.
Hibs Will Provide the Next Answer
Easter Road is Celtic’s next stop on 25 October. Dundee United then visit Glasgow on Wednesday, 28 October.
Thursday’s back four could stay together for the trip to Edinburgh, although O’Neill has little time to work on the mistakes against Celta. Liam Scales, Dane Murray and Donovan have all featured heavily, while the injury to Osmand against Celta creates another selection concern.
The Hearts victory showed what Celtic can produce in attack. Thursday exposed the cost of conceding territory and failing to deal with successive threats. Hibs now have a recent example of where to apply pressure.
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