Hearts of Midlothian may have spoiled Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou’s first game of the Scottish League season on 1 August, but it was a different story yesterday, when the wily former Socceroos’ coach turned the tables on his opponents to orchestrate their exit from the Scottish League Cup and progress through to the competition’s quarter finals.
Celtic (the Hoops) at home, were dominant for the first hour of the game, particularly after Frenchman Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring with a well-crafted goal. He, however, missed a number of good chances and should have been on a hat trick.
The Hearts’ players found it difficult to cope with the high pressure game that the Hoops brought against them and Stephen Welsh was to add a second five minutes after Edouard’s effort.
Hearts were able to get back into the game in the second half when Liam Boyce gave them hope when he converted a penalty for a foul on John Beaton.
The penalty in the 57th minute unsettled the hosts until Man of the match and Postecoglou signing Kyogo Furuhashi settled the nerves with a goal six minutes later.
READ MORE: Postecoglou turns Celtic doubters into fans in his first home game
Celtic then took the foot off the pedal.
Hearts found another goal in extra time through the boot of Aaron McEneff ,but it was snot enough to salvage the situation.
Raith Rovers, who beat Aberdeen in their League Cup fixture, will be Celtic’s opponents in their League quarter-final match next month.
