Lawrence Shankland Hearts goals analysed amid ‘not been brilliant’ comments

The Hearts’ captain ended an eight-match goal-dought during 4-1 defeat to Celtic

Hearts suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Celtic at Tynecastle on Sunday with Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Tomoki Iwata all adding to the damage. Not only were four goals enough to put any team into disappointment, but the Jambos were also the unlucky recipients of a penalty against them after Alex Cochrane was deemed to have fouled Kyogo Furuhashi in the box.

While Reo Hatate subsequently missed the shot, the aggrieved forward amended the scoreline himself just five minutes later. There was only a small glimmer of hope for the home crowd as their captain Lawrence Shankland scored a consolation goal in the 65th minute and for a brief moment there was only a two-goal deficit.

This was the 28-year-old’s first goal in eight fixtures and speaking to the press after the match, Shankland admitted: “It was good to get back on the scoresheet. It’s been a wee bit of a drought and I’m glad that it’s over now. So if there any positives to take personally, that can be one.”

How many goals has Lawrence Shankland scored this season?

The striker has six goals this season with his last strike coming from the penalty spot in the Jambos’ European Conference League play-off final against PAOK back in August. Shankland, however, scored the second of the team’s two goals during their 2-0 win over St Johnstone in the opening day of the Scottish Premiership.

He then went on to score twice in their third qualifying round against Rosenborg - once at home and once away, before contributing in his squad’s 4-0 win over Partick Thistle in the second round of the League Cup. The current captain - who may soon lose his position to returning goalkeeper Craig Gordon - also has two assists.

How many goals does Shankland have for Hearts?

In his 60 appearances for Hearts, the Scottish striker has scored 34 times. 26 have come in the Scottish Premiership with one apiece in both the FA and League Cup. He was the third highest goalscorer in the league last season with 24 goals to his name, sitting just three goals behind Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi in top place.

There had been mild concerns beginning to grow from Hearts fans as it appeared the captain was struggling to find the posts this season but his latest goal has gone some way in quelling such fears. The striker, however, has little concern for his recent ‘drought’ given last year’s statistics.

Speaking about the lack of goals, Shankland said: “I’ve gone through it before. But up until the same date last year, I’d only scored five goals as well so I’m on track for what I did last year. Of course my game’s not been brilliant at times this season. I’d say to myself that I can improve.

‘But, listen, it’s not through a lack of effort. I’m working hard and trying my best out there. Sometimes it doesn’t quite work out and you have a wee dip in form. Hopefully that goal today can turn things and get me going in the right direction again.”