Exclusive:New Hearts midfield system, a 'scabby goal' and a brilliant reaction at Celtic Park

Underpinning Hearts’ win over Celtic was a new midfield system which became the catalyst for an impressive victory in Glasgow’s east end. Tynecastle supporters waited months to see the giant Irishman Oisin McEntee deployed in his best position. Anchoring the central area alongside Cammy Devlin, with Tomas Magnusson in a No.10 role, McEntee was a standout against Celtic even before powering the header for Hearts’ second goal.

It is a combination which should be allowed to flourish in the weeks ahead. At least until Beni Baningime returns from injury. McEntee spent most his time in Edinburgh hitherto at right-back and performed diligently. He isn’t fazed by different roles but definitely looks more comfortable and natural in midfield. His goal threat also comes into play more, although Sunday’s header came following Harry Milne’s corner-kick.

The Hearts head coach Derek McInnes noted McEntee’s ability to break up play, complementing Devlin’s tenacity and Magnusson’s combative and passing strengths. The triumvirate had never played together in midfield before but became a major reason for a 2-1 victory taking the Edinburgh club three points clear at the top of the William Hill Premiership. Another success was Michael Steinwender in place of McEntee at right-back as the Austrian centre-half demonstrated his own versatility by nullifying Celtic’s Sebastian Tounekti.

“We think Michael has the skillset to deal with a pacy winger and I think he showed that against Celtic. Good on Michael for that,” said McInnes, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “His first position is probably on the right of a back three, but he can do that [full-back role]. We anticipated Celtic's system so we thought we needed bodies in midfield. We needed three men in there and [Claudio] Braga being a fourth one at times.

“The emphasis was on Braga and Magnusson to always be in contact with Lawrence Shankland. [Alexandros] Kyziridis was intended to give us that real threat in the spaces, and Harry Milne does that naturally anyway. We always wanted to attack with five players but, behind that, Cammy and Oisin were needed to put fires out and look after the ball. They had to keep moving across the pitch when Celtic rotated, just being smart and calm. Oisin was brilliant in there for us.”

Celtic couldn’t cope with Hearts’ counter-attacking in the second half. Braga’s opening goal late in the first period was supplemented by McEntee’s 64th-minute header. Kieran Tierney’s stoppage-time consolation strike was too little, too late for the home side in Wilfried Nancy’s first game as manager.

“Shankland and Braga played a bit closer together, which we asked them to do at half-time,” explained McInnes. “We managed to find Kyziridis in the spaces between their outside centre-back and wing-back because the wing-backs play high. There were a couple of moments to give us encouragement, plus Magnusson supported brilliantly. He did so much running, back doing a shift, then up supporting the strikers, running in behind, winning headers, he was all-action.

“I thought we might need that second goal and it's good to get back scoring from a set-play. I thought our defensive discipline was brilliant from the whole team - from Lawrence up front back to Alex [Schwolow] in goal. We left certain Celtic players on the ball, we tried to force them into specific areas and everybody knew what was expected of them in those moments.

“Celtic are always huge favourites at home. In recent years, they have been the toughest opponent. They are the team that can put you under most stress, they make you question your organisation and they dominate the ball more than anybody. I've had some decent results at Celtic Park with different teams, but I've also taken a few sore ones.

“All you try to do is give your team a chance to stay in the game. I thought we did that brilliantly on Sunday after the first 15 or 20 minutes. I was a bit disappointed with the start, not securing the ball, not getting our distances right. We got more confidence when we started to frustrate Celtic out of possession and then we started to pick one or two more passes.”

Victory at Celtic Park also quietened some of Hearts’ detractors. A run of one win in six games caused many to question whether the Gorgie bubble had burst in recent weeks as a nine-point advantage at the Premiership summit was erased. Inside Riccarton, the Hearts players were determined to battle through and show their resilience with a positive reaction. McInnes never once contemplated that his team might fold after such a swaggering start to the campaign. As it stands, they have lost only one league game. That was at Aberdeen last month, thanks to Topi Keskinen’s winning goal.

“I think you always learn,” remarked McInnes. “I never thought we were as good as people were saying. I tried to play that down. And I never thought we were as bad as some of the criticism that came our way. We have had a wee sticky patch but nobody was wiping the floor with us. Nobody was totally outplaying us, we weren't losing a lot of goals. The scabby goal at Aberdeen is a bit lucky in a sense, but 0-0 at Motherwell in isolation isn't the worst result.

“In a couple of the home results, particularly last week against Kilmarnock when we did enough to win the game, we were guilty of not putting the game to bed. We were punished for making a mistake in the dying embers of it. If the players or anybody had a jolt to their belief, then winning at Celtic Park certainly helps matters. We will take the good from that.

“It was an important three points in the context of the season. Hopefully we knuckle down now and just try to win the next game. Every point is vitally important and the players have been good as gold. They really have. We are into December now and we are sitting top of the league. You don't do that by not having good types, and we've got loads of them.”