Glasgow Celtic Victory over Hearts Overshadowed by Attack on Neil Lennon by Thug

In a match that could have been a make or break night for Celtic's title challenge, one thing will dominate the headlines tomorrow - The attack on Celtic boss Neil Lennon. 

by Marc Roseblade
 
Just moments after Gary Hooper scored Celtic's second goal in the 48th minute, a Hearts fan jumped the track-side boarding behind the Celtic dugout and attempted to attack Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

If it had not been for the thug appearing to slip just before he made contact with the Northern Irishman, the Celtic boss could have been seriously hurt, and in light of the recent death threats made against him this is as serious as it gets.

No one can know what will be going through Lennon's head tonight following the incident, and this no doubt adds weight to the opinion that Lennon will not be at the club after the end of the season. After this, one couldn't blame the man if he did leave.

"..I have never seen anything like it in all my days of football." Said Celtic assistant manager Johan Mjallby after the game.

Hearts boss Jim Jeffries also commented, saying, "This is not acceptable and security seriously needs to be looked at if that's what the game has come to. I thought there was a hostile atmosphere all night in Tynecastle for some reason and it seemed it was ready to spark off all night but nobody expected that."

Hearts Football Club can confirm a full investigation will be carried out in light of the attack on Neil Lennon, saying "We will give full support to Celtic, the police and stewards in their efforts to investigate the situation that arose."

On the pitch, Celtic won the match 3-0 after taking an 11th minute lead through a Gary Hooper goal. Kris Commons picked up a loose pass from the Hearts defense and sent the ball inside to the Englishman, who fired home from 12 yards.

The game got physical in the 31st minute when the home side were reduced to 10 men after David Obua was red carded for what the SFA are calling an 'attempted punch'.

The first half ended with the score at 1-0, but it was only three minutes into the second half before Celtic added another goal. After a nice pass from Korean international Ki Sung-Yueng on the edge of the box, Hooper added his second after running into the box and slotting home from the penalty area.

The attack on Neil Lennon directly followed the goal, and after a four minute break to subdue and remove the offending thug, the match was restarted.

Celtic's third goal ended Hearts' hopes of a fightback when Hooper met a long ball from keeper Fraser Forster. Hooper played in a running Commons, who fired home an unstoppable shot from a tight angle 10 yards out.

Commons, in his exuberance, jumped into the crowd to celebrate, and for this moment of madness he received a yellow card. Having already received a yellow earlier in the half, the winger had to take an early walk to the changing rooms.

Afterwards, man of the match Commons said, "I forgot about the earlier card when I went to celebrate."

The match ended 3-0 for Celtic, who go into this weekend's final SPL match knowing that they need nothing less than a win against Motherwell and a Rangers slip-up at Kilmarnock.

Helicopter Sunday here we come!

Celtic Victory Overshadowed by Neil Lennon Attack