Search icon

Football

11th Aug 2018

Hearts aim cheeky dig at Celtic after their nemesis scores a belter

Simon Lloyd

They couldn’t resist.

Hearts sent Celtic to their first defeat of the new season on Saturday afternoon. A second half volley from Kyle Lafferty, linked with a return to Rangers earlier this summer, was enough to settle the contest at Tynecastle.

Lafferty, who has been linked with a move to Steven Gerrard’s Rangers, has made a habit of netting against Celtic over the years. His goal today was a dinger:

After it, those responsible for Hearts’ Twitter account used the opportunity to poke fun at the comments Brendan Rodgers made about their pitch last season – more specifically, the length of its grass.

Celtic won 3-1 in Edinburgh back in May, but Rodgers described the grass length as “embarrassing” after the match, suggesting it had been kept long to suit the home side. Hearts have spent £1m on a new hybrid pitch since the end of the season, although manager Craig Levein acknowledged the playing surface was still “a bit long” prior to this weekend’s game.

Minutes after their win was confirmed on Saturday, Hearts’ Twitter shared footage of one of the groundsmen running a lawnmower over the Tynecastle playing surface, accompanied by the words ‘Better late than never.’

Hearts’ win moved them to the top of the Scottish Premiership – temporarily at least – having also won their first game of the season away at Hamilton.

Their next game sees them take on Dunfermline Athletic in the Betfred Cup next Saturday, with a return to league action coming away at Kilmarnock on August 25.

Celtic will now turn their attention to their Champions League qualifier away against AEK Athens on Tuesday night, with the score level at 1-1 after the first leg in Glasgow.

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10