Celtic got the better of Hearts in midweek, despite being nowhere near their best. Ange Postecoglou had seen his side go down a goal early for the second game running, with Josh Ginnelly giving Robbie Neilson’s team the lead. And while the Hoops struggled to put in a great performance, they had enough in the tank to rescue the win, with Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Sead Haksabanovic finding the back of the net.
Neilson did not seem happy with some of the refereeing decisions on the day. And the Hearts manager made no secret of it after the game.
Of course, the refereeing has been a problem in the Scottish Premiership throughout the years. Thus, he would not be the first manager to have complaints. Celtic have been on the wrong end of the coin more often than not.
As reported by Glasgow Live, when quizzed about the matter, Postecoglou said:
"“What other managers say or think is of no interest to me. I don’t know why I would take into account another person’s view of what I have seen. It doesn’t register with me and never has.“Every manager has the right to analyse and summarise a game they want to, that’s fine by me, I have no issue with that.”"
Celtic manager sends blunt message to Neilson
Of course, Celtic are going to be coming up against Hearts once again immediately. The Hoops will be the away team on this occasion though as they travel to Tynecastle Park to take part in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup.
This is a very important game for both teams. On one hand, it is the only chance of winning silverware that Hearts have remaining this season. On the other hand, having already won the Scottish League Cup, a treble is on the table for Celtic. And they will surely be looking to keep those hopes alive beyond this weekend.
A trip to Tynecastle Park is never simple and the Hoops will need to take their A-game there. On the bright side, one would expect their performance to improve, after what was a lacklustre display at Parkhead in midweek against Hearts.