Number five in our countdown marks the first (and last) time a Craig Levein team will make an appearance. Indeed, this game was perhaps the infamous former Hearts manager’s finest moment during his second spell in charge in the capital.
A buoyant Celtic team arrived at Tynecastle Park on the morning of Sunday 17th December without even a thought that they’d return west with anything except a victory. And why should they? They hadn’t been beaten by the Jambos in over five years, they were on a sixty-nine match unbeaten run, and in all honesty their opponents were nothing special.
However, that all flew out the window just twenty-six minutes in, as sixteen-year-old Harry Cochrane slammed in a strike from the edge of the box to claim his first goal for Hearts. All four sides of Tynecastle were shocked, with all but one jubilant in equal measure.
Things went from bad to worse for the champions just nine minutes later, as former Rangers forward Kyle Lafferty fired in a wonderful strike beyond Craig Gordon that kissed the inside of the post before nestling in the back of the net. The stadium erupted in a mixture of shock and awe as many began to dream of ending Celtic’s seemingly unbreakable run.
The dreams turned to almost reality only three minutes after the half-time interval as David Milinkovic seized on an amateur mistake from Jozo Simunovic to send those in the stands into raptures.
Milinkovic added a fourth goal from the penalty spot in the seventy-sixth minute to really put the crown on a truly amazing day for everyone of a maroon persuasion.
No one, and I truly mean no one, even had a hint of a thought that Hearts would be the ones to end Celtic’s long, long run. Not even the most ambitious of Hearts fan saw it coming, and I really think that it was one of the biggest upsets Scottish football has seen.
This game stands as the highpoint of a somewhat disappointing season for Hearts, and as previously mentioned it was certainly Mr Levein’s best moment following his return to club management.
Games of Our Lives 