Celtic progress to Scottish Cup final
Hearts 1 Celtic 2
Craig Bellamy emerged as today’s Hampden Park hero with the important second-half strike to send the Tennent’s Scottish Cup holders back to the final to face Dundee United on May 28.
Chris Sutton showed how influential he is to the champions by marking his return to the side with a third-minute opener before the on-loan Newcastle United striker also capitalised on some poor defending four minutes after the restart to increase the lead.
Substitute Deividas Cesnauskis came off the bench to lob David Marshall to set up a grandstand finish but Celtic saw the 90 minutes out to gain revenge over Hearts for last week’s shock defeat at Celtic Park which put Rangers back in control of the Bank of Scotland Premier League title race.
Hearts fans booed and jeered the minute’s silence for Pope John Paul II and referee Stuart Dougal was forced to end it early.
Celtic looked fired up for the game, with Sutton in for Aiden McGeady and Joos Valgaeren replacing Stephane Henchoz. Hearts manager John Robertson brought in Paul Hartley for Marius Kizys.
The ball almost fell kindly for John Hartson in the area after just one minute but his shot hit a Hearts player to take the sting out of the ball and Craig Gordon made a comfortable save.
The Celtic supporters were celebrating in the third minute when Sutton gave them a dream start with the opener.
Alan Thompson tapped a corner to Stilian Petrov to swing an inviting left-foot cross just inside the six-yard box and the Englishman got between Steven Pressley and Andy Webster and more importantly in front of Gordon to head into the roof of the net.
The Hearts fans goaded Craig Bellamy with chants of “Souness” in reference to his bust up with the Newcastle United manager.
The Hearts boss then flicked the ball away from Valgaeren as he bent down on the touchline before taking a throw-in.
Hearts looked dangerous on the break with Hartley’s bursts forward and after good work by him and former Celt Mark Burchill in the 20th minute the ball broke to Joe Hamill on the edge of the area but Valgaeren was brave to block his effort.
Bellamy almost punished Webster for failing to deal with a back pass and Bellamy stole the ball with Gordon out of his goal,
He played the ball towards his Welsh international team-mate Hartson, inside the area, but he swung wildly and missed the ball completely.
Marshall had very little to do in the first half as Hearts struggled to get last week’s scoring heroes Burchill and Lee Miller into the game.
Hartson came within inches of extending Celtic’s lead on the stroke of half-time when he got within a whisker of Neil Lennon’s cross after persistence from Petrov.
Robertson changed things at the break and introduced Cesnauskis for Robbie Neilson, who was injured early on.
But Hearts found themselves further behind after more poor play in their defence in the 49th minute.
Hartson failed to control Stanislav Varga’s punt down field but Celtic target Hartley clumsily knocked the ball to Bellamy, who swivelled and forced his shot past Gordon from 12 yards.
The Hoops threatened to kill the game off moments later as Gordon took Thompson’s cross off the head of Hartson and Varga somehow failed to turn the ball in on the goal-line.
Gordon stood up well to save Thompson’s left-foot flick in the 54th minute but Hearts seemed to be dead and buried.
At the other end the ball almost broke to Burchill in the box but Jackie McNamara reacted quickly to clear the danger before Robertson brought Kizys on for Hammil.
But Cesnauskis hauled the underdogs back into the match on the hour when he got behind the the Celtic defence to lob the ball over Marshall, who had come off his line.
Sutton could have restored the two-goal advantage in a pulsating second half after being picked out by Bellamy close to the penalty spot but he pulled his effort well over.
O’Neill brought on McGeady for Hartson in the 72nd minute before Robertson replaced Neil MacFarlane with Dennis Wyness.
Hearts pushed Celtic back and McNamara needed to throw himself bravely at Burchill to send his shot behind for a corner.
Bellamy could have killed the game off but somehow failed to find the net from close range, but nothing was going to ruin his and the Glasgow club’s big day.
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Last gasp goal boosts West Brom hopes
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Aston Villa 1 West Brom 1
Paul Robinson scored an dramatic injury-time equaliser against rivals Aston Villa today to boost West Brom’s hopes of escaping relegation this season.
The Baggies left-back headed home a cross from Riccardo Scimeca as Bryan Robson’s side continued their run of impressive recent results.
Darius Vassell had scored his first Barclays Premiership goal since the opening day of the season to put Villa ahead, then Jonathan Greening and Liam Ridgewell were sent off for violent conduct before Robinson’s point-saver.
David O’Leary’s side bossed the game for long periods – particularly in the first half – with Gareth Barry, Jlloyd Samuel, Nolberto Solano and Lee Hendrie looking sharp.
Only some fine defending by Neil Clement – a strong contender to be West Brom’s player of the year – and the dependable Robinson plus keeper Russell Hoult kept them at bay.
But the Baggies have a never-say-die attitude and the came more into the game in the second period, no doubt after a wake-up call from Robson at the interval.
Villa made a positive start and it needed Baggies Robinson to put in an important block on Solano’s shot.
Hoult was called into action for the first time when he blocked a close range effort from Vassell, who had seized onto a chip to the far post from Solano.
Juan Pablo Angel shot wide after advancing towards the Albion goal and Hoult dealt comfortably enough with a low drive from Hendrie – but Albion were giving the ball away too easily and inviting pressure.
Barry’s decoy run allowed Samuel the space to break into the Albion area and his wayward cross sliced towards the goal and was turned over the bar by Hoult.
But it was almost inevitable Villa’s constant pressure would eventually pay dividends and they went ahead after 27 minutes through Vassell’s header.
Solano’s corner was met by centre-back Ridgewell and his thumping header produced a superb save from Hoult who pushed the ball up onto the crossbar. But Vassell was first to react to the rebound and headed home from close range.
West Brom seemed powerless to stop the stream of attacks on their goal and it needed a good tackle from Robinson to halt Angel.
Hendrie was then teed up on the edge of the Baggies penalty area by Angel and his rasping drive was only just too high.
It was 42 minutes before Albion managed an effort on goal and then Thomas Sorensen dealt comfortably enough with a dipping Zoltan Gera effort.
But the Villa keeper did well to cling onto a downward header by Kevin Campbell from a deep Gera cross just before the interval.
Albion came close to equalising straight after the restart when a cross from Martin Albrechtsen eluded the dive of Sorensen and hit Martin Laursen but the defender recovered to clear as Horsfield threatened to capitalise.
Robinson became the first player to be yellow-carded for a clumsy challenge on Vassell but then Laursen was booked for a foul on the Albion defender.
Vassell’s dangerous low cross flew across the face of the Albion goal while at the other end Sorensen palmed away a Greening corner at full stretch.
Albion were at least now enjoying a greater share of possession before the game boiled over after 61 minutes with both Ridgewell and Greening sent off.
West Brom were awarded a free-kick after Ridgewell caught Greening but then the pair squared up to each other. Both looked to direct a head-butt at each other in front of referee Rob Styles who had little choice but to give them their marching orders.
Hoult kept West Brom in the hunt with a point blank range to keep out Vassell’s header from Hendrie’s inswinging corner.
Sorensen then came to Villa’s rescue to thwart Gera after he had found himself unmarked 12 yards out.
But in the dying seconds Robinson’s bullet-like header gave Sorensen no chance from Scimeca’s pin point centre.
