Celtic instant analysis as penalty woes return for ten men

In a game mired by controversial refereeing decisions that seemed to go against Brendan Rodgers's side the dismal tone for the visitors was set in the capital when Celtic's man-of-the-moment Adam Idah blew a golden opportunity to give the champions the lead after 13 minutes. The Republic of Ireland international blasted a terrible penalty straight down the middle of the goal which smashed off the legs of Jambos goalkeeper Lawrence Shankland after Korean winger Yang Hyun-Jun had been clumsily upended by Alex Cochrane.

Three minutes later Yang saw red for a high boot that caught Cochrane on the upper shoulder and referee Don Robertson brandished the yellow card. However, the whistler was asked to check the monitor by VAR official John Beaton and he rescinded the caution and produced the red card. It looked harsh but by the letter of the law, Yang was endangering an opponent but it was reckless more than malicious.

Matt O'Riley then fired one into the net via the post but it was rightfully disallowed for offside on Idah in the build-up. Worse was to follow for Celtic when Hearts were awarded a penalty of their own in 43 minutes when Tomoki Iwata was adjudged to have handled in the area and once again Robertson was called to the VAR monitor and he pointed to the spot.

 Jorge Grant made no mistake as he sent Joe Hart the wrong way from the spot. Celtic then got away with one in first-half stoppage time as Lawrence Shankland despatched low into the corner but he was marginally flagged for offside. It was 2-0 on 56 minutes when Shankland fired home after Calum Niewenhof slipped in the box but still managed to shunt the ball back to the Jambos attacker who buried a low drive past Hart.

The match was over as a contest by then and Celtic huffed and puffed but they were not able to breach the Hearts rearguard. Rodgers' men still trail Rangers by two points on a day when everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong for the defending champions.

Here's what TCW's Tony Haggerty made of the game...

Adam Idah fluffs his lines from 12 yards

The Republic of Ireland striker blotted his Celtic copybook as he failed to notch his sixth goal in green and white colours. Idah blasted a poor penalty down the middle and it cannoned off the legs of Clark in the Hearts goal. The 23-year-old on-loan attacker from Norwich City has rarely put a foot wrong since he joined the club but it could turn out to be a crucial miss from 12 yards. Idah has already spoken of the fact that he thrives on pressure but he certainly didn't at Tynecastle at that moment. He ploughed a lone furrow up front when Celtic were reduced to ten men and it was a thankless task at times. He did see the occasional sight of the goal and flashed a couple of efforts over the top and wide of the target. Idah tried his damndest to get Celtic back into the contest but sometimes his close control let him down and whenever he looked up he had little or no support to feed off. Strangely he was Celtic's best player as he at least tried to make things happen as well as atone for his penalty miss.

Yang sees red for serious foul play

The Korean winger can count himself very unfortunate to see red as his boot was high against Cochrane but it appeared to catch him on the shoulder and not on the face. However, you can understand that it was endangering an opponent. It was reckless but there was certainly no malice in the challenge. It was a blow to Rodgers and Yang as the wide man was just beginning to hit his stride and run into a bit of form and he will be bitterly disappointed at the Tynecastle outcome. Ironically Yang was involved in the game's first major incident when he darted away from Cochrane to latch onto O'Riley's quick pass and he was upended by the Hearts defender. Idah though made a hash of the resultant spot-kick. There is no doubt that he will learn from this incident moving forward. Although he can feel a little hard done by as the official Robertson initially deemed it worthy of a yellow card but was overruled by Beaton in the VAR room.

Penalty jinx strikes again

Celtic's penalty woes struck again as Idah was the fall guy on this occasion. Just when the club seems to find the answer to their spot-kick troubles they run into a brick wall once again. Idah's kick from 12 yards was poor, to say the least, and Celtic never fully recovered from that crucial miss. By stark contrast, their rivals on the other side of the city have a deadly and trustworthy penalty kicktaker in the shape of James Tavernier. Celtic have gone through a plethora of players in terms of taking penalty kick responsibilities this season. It remains to be seen if Idah's kick will come back to haunt them in terms of the title race. What is for certain is that Celtic cannot continue to spurn such golden opportunities whenever they present themselves. It is something Rodgers will have to address as a matter of urgency.

Celtic blow a huge chance to go back to the summit

Rodgers will be able to point to the fact that VAR has failed Celtic on two occasions in this match. They were both game-changing decisions that directly influenced the outcome of the game. The red card for Yang and the penalty decision against Iwata cost the champions dear and they will be hotly disputed between now and May. That being said Celtic did waste a glorious chance of their own to grab a foothold in the contest courtesy of Idah's spurned spot-kick.  The Northern Irishman's team had started the match brightly and looked as if they meant business after their 7-1 midweek thrashing of Dundee. The biggest disappointment of all for Rodgers and his team will be the fact that they could not cash in on Rangers losing to Motherwell at Fir Park 24 hours previously. The champions still trail Rangers by two points in the title race and the worst part is that to an extent the damage can be seen as self-inflicted but the officials can also be accused of more than playing their part with two highly contentious decisions.