Celtic reclaim 11-point lead

Hearts 0 Celtic 1

Both Hearts and Celtic emerged battered and bruised following a physical battle at Tynecastle yesterday where both sides had decent chances to score but only Petrov succeeded in finding the back of the net.

However, Hearts head coach Craig Levein insists the clash could have ended very differently if John Hartson had been sent off within the first few minutes of the game.

The Celtic striker appeared to elbow Hearts defender Andy Webster but escaped a red card when referee Kenny Clark opted to book him instead.

The Parkhead side went on to win the game thanks to that goal from Petrov but Levein feels the three points may not have been heading back to the east end of Glasgow if Celtic had been forced to play most of the game with 10 men.

Levein said: "I don't really want to pick over things that happened in the game but Webby felt he was elbowed. He didn't understand why it was a booking if he used an elbow and it could have made a difference if Celtic had gone down to 10 men so early in the game."

But Hoops boss Martin O'Neill says he asked Hartson about the incident after a fiery game which saw 10 players booked and the big Welshman put the incident down to "argy-bargy".

O'Neill explained: "I didn't see it but I asked John and he said it was just a bit of argy-bargy nothing more than that."

The Celtic manager admits he used his free Saturday to make a trip to Palmerston Park to watch Raith Rovers striker John Sutton in action against Queen of the South.

Sutton younger brother of Celtic star Chris has been attracting admiring glances from as far afield as Valencia since moving to Starks Park last summer and O'Neill was keen to see what all the fuss is about for himself.

But the Hoops boss admits he missed Sutton's goal and claims the Raith striker would struggle to keep his older sibling out of the first team at Celtic anyway.

O'Neill said: "Everyone has been having a look and I thought that we might as well have a look as well. He looks a fine big prospect but ironically we didn't see his goal because we left early to go back to the hotel.

"There is some interest in him but I think it would be hard for him to break into the team in front of his brother!"

Lothian and Borders Police have released a man detained in connection with the coin-throwing incident inwhich Hoops goalkeeper Rob Douglas was struck by a coin in the opening minutes of the game as he prepared to take a free-kick.

Tynecastle head of security Tom Purdie had said an arrest had been made but the police later said the spectator had been detained but released after questioning due to a lack of evidence. A total of 28 supporters were ejected from Tynecastle throughout the game 16 of those by the police and the remainder by stewards.

Celtic striker Chris Sutton was also the target of another coin-throwing incident later in the game and police are checking CCTV footage in the hope of identifying the supporter responsible.

HEARTS: Gordon, Maybury, Pressley, Webster, Severin, Stamp, Kisnorbo, Wyness, Hartley (McKenna 86), de Vries, Sloan (Weir 82).

CELTIC: Douglas, McNamara, Balde, Pearson, Sutton, Hartson (Beattie 81), Larsson, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov, Varga.

Referee: K Clark (Scotland).