Hearts condemn ‘shameful scenes’ after captain ‘assaulted’ in Celtic pitch invasion
Hearts have condemned the “shameful scenes” at the end of their Scottish Premiership title decider at Celtic Park, after captain Lawrence Shankland was allegedly assaulted during a pitch invasion. Celtic fans poured onto the pitch following Callum Osmand’s injury-time goal which confirmed they had leapfrogged Hearts to the top of the table on a hugely controversial day in Glasgow. In a strongly-worded statement, the club said that they had no choice but to leave the scene immediately and board the team bus, without fulfilling their post-match press duties, owing to “the menacing and threatening atmosphere inside the stadium”.
There were also reports of “serious physical and verbal abuse” towards their players and staff. The club have called for the footballing authorities to take the strongest actions possible and say they are working with Police Scotland alongside their own investigation. There were also reports of police being pelted with bottles as Celtic fans celebrated on the streets on Glasgow.
According to Police Scotland, officers arrived at the Trongate area of the city and entered a crowd of celebrating fans to assist with a medical emergency when they said they were “faced with significant levels of hostility, with bottles and other missiles thrown at them”. Action was taken to disperse the crowd, the police said. The police said they came under attack in Glasgow - Steve Welsh/PA In extraordinary and disturbing scenes, the game between Celtic and Hearts was essentially brought to a premature finish after both teams were led off the field as fans in green and white swarmed from all four corners of the stadium to celebrate.
Referee Don Robertson was unable to blow his final whistle to signal the end of a fixture that Celtic were leading 3-1, the victory giving them their 56th league title and leaving Hearts shattered as they had got so close to pulling off a major surprise. But the football became secondary after Shankland, who had collapsed to the floor in despair after Osmand was able to gallop up the field to score in an empty net, looked to be physically accosted as he was surrounded by a group of Celtic fans. Shankland, whose header in the first half had given Hearts hope they might be able to win the league for the first time since 1960, needed assistance from stewards to get off the pitch and he was seen holding his ribs as he was surrounded.
Lawrence Shankland, the Hearts captain, is shepherded off the pitch by officials at Celtic Park - Sky Sports So bad was the invasion, Celtic’s stadium announcer made repeated demands for supporters to “please get back to their seats” and a line of security was formed across the halfway line to keep things in check. Emotions had run high, however, and Hearts were so enraged by it all that manager Derek McInnes demanded that his squad get straight on to the team bus to get back to Edinburgh without showering. They had left the stadium by 2.
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