Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic tenure got off to the worst possible start with a defeat against Hearts.
Nancy decided to go with his trusted 3-4-3 formation as he tried to make an early statement in his tenure even though tensions between supporters and the board continued as over 1,000 fans staged a peaceful protest before the game.
Despite dominating with the ball, the Hoops fell behind as Arne Engels kept Claudio Braga onside, allowing him to capitalise on Celtic’s failure to clear the ball and let Braga score with Hearts’ first shot on target right before half time.
Things then went from bad to worse in the second half as Oisin McEntee then continued Hearts’ strong record from scoring by corners to power a header past Kasper Schmeichel.
Kieran Tierney got one back late in stoppage time but it was too little, too late for the Hoops.
Celtic were second best all afternoon and even though they can move level on points again if they win their game in hand, there will be a lot of reflection before the game against Roma.
Where did it go wrong for Wilfired Nancy against Hearts?
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
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Celtic player ratings Kasper Schmeichel – 4
Was let down by those in front of him but the goalkeeper has high standards and to concede two in such a big game and be on the losing side is bitterly disappointing.
Auston Trusty – 5
After impressing under Martin O’Neill, he looked a shadow of himself this afternoon. He struggled to deal with the Hearts attack and rushed into making needless passes.
Liam Scales – 4
One of his poorer performances of the season.
Kieran Tierney – 4
Played in a similar role to where he does for Scotland on international duty but was sadly part of a poor defensive performance so can’t take any plaudits. Took his goal well, however.
Hyunjun Yang – 4
Was the guinea pig in the new formation playing as a right wing-back. He had some bright moments but ultimately couldn’t provide any cutting edge.
Callum McGregor (C) – 4
Hearts wouldn’t let him get his foot on the ball and, as we have seen, when McGregor can’t control or dictate the ball, Celtic struggle.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesArne Engels – 4
Played in a deeper role than usual but couldn’t make any sort of impact at all. An £11m signing should be the star of the show in a game like this.
Reo Hatate – 4
Pretty non-existent from the midfielder.
Sebastian Tounekti – 3
Restored to the starting XI but failed to make the most of his chance. Really, really disappointing and he needs to find his early-season form quickly so it was no surprise to see that he was the first player to be withdrawn.
Daizen Maeda – 5
Had very little service all afternoon so was left to feed off scraps, which makes it hard for him to be at his best.
Benjamin Nygren – 3
Sluggish from the midfielder, who looked like he was struggling to get to grips with the new formation. Made the wrong decision too many times and was responsible for letting Milne go for the second goal.
SubstitutesLuke McCowan – 5
Tried his best to get involved and make something happen, but it seemed that the damage was done by the time it was done.
Johnny Kenny – 4
Barely made an impact off the bench. Like McCowan, though, what can you do when you are already down and out.
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