Saturday evening was another story of Heart of Midlothian missing an opportunity to record a statement win or beat a league rival in a big game.
It is another chapter in the story that is shaping the season. Only the chapters read the same. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity. From the micro of losing a game of football to the macro of failing to capitalise on Rangers' disasterclass of a campaign the way Aberdeen have.
Viktoria Plzen were there for the taking in the Europa League play-off. Rangers were there for the taking in the first game of the season and in the last game before the most recent international break. One of the worst Hibs sides in recent years were there for the taking at Easter Road.
Aberdeen, Celtic, and Hedienheim were all, to various extent, let off the hook.
As things stand this will be the season of what could have been, providing the team begin to move up the table as performances under Neil Critchley suggest they will and don't remain in a relegation battle much longer.
The latest setback was the 4-1 loss to Celtic.
The Hearts head coach described the scoreline as "very harsh". He had a point. At the same time, you look at the final score. The second half. The performance of Craig Gordon. The wastefulness in front of goal. Maybe, in fact, it was exactly what was deserved. Another message that the team simply need to improve at both ends of the pitch.
Like the recent loss to Heidenheim in the Conference League, there were elements of two very different halves of football.
That is reflected in the chances both teams created. Below is the race chart which can be a decent barometer of reflecting the flow of a game, demonstrating all efforts, when they took place, and how big a chance it was. The bigger the vertical line, the bigger the chance. The longer the horizontal line, the longer the period between shots.
First half
Brendan Rodgers admitted his surprise after the match at the way Hearts had pressed his side.
"First half, I thought Hearts did well," he said. "They surprised us a little bit with the pressing structure. Obviously, I'd watched Neil and his team. They'd normally pressed in 4-4-2, but that was slightly different."
The 4-3-3 shape could be seen very early on and it ultimately led to the best chance of the match in the first half. Auston Trusty passes back to Kasper Schmeichel in the second minute and the front three are all high and in picture.
Eventually, Cameron Carter-Vickers went long and Celtic would win a throw-in in their own half.
From there, a poor pass from Alistair Johnston is picked up by an alert Beni Baningime. Moments later Blair Spittal and Lawrence Shankland combine but the former doesn't get good enough contact to trouble the Celtic goalkeeper.
That situation in the first half was essentially the pattern of the first half. Hearts would guide Celtic wide and then pounce on any bit of indecision or error. In fact, the visitors were guilty of several unforced errors.
James Penrice had an effort in the fourth minute after a misplaced pass while Cammy Devlin's tenacity won possession from a dithering Greg Taylor which led to a key attack (On the rewatch it became clear that the Aussie had a good performance and covered a hell of a lot of ground).
After a blocked cross the ball was worked left and Penrice galloped beyond Kuhn, as he did so often in the first half, before picking out Shankland with a clipped cross.
The combination of Penrice and Spittal were Hearts' best avenue through getting at Celtic if they hadn't won the ball high.
While the shape was 4-3-3 it could, at times, look like 4-4-2 out of possession as Alan Forrest pushed up on Trusty. Spittal was focused on Johnston and Devlin would move wider to engage Taylor who often plays narrow, as he did in the above incident.
One of the most interesting roles was Baningime. He, alongside Penrice, was the best player on the pitch in the first half. No player combined for more tackles and interceptions. His focus was on Callum McGregor.
Rather than sitting off the centre-backs and asking Shankland to drop in on Celtic's midfield talisman, Baningime would often shoot out of midfield to engage. It forced McGregor back and in turn, was highly effective as Celtic's rhythm was disrupted.
Due to the quality they possess, Celtic did get goal side of the Hearts midfield on a couple of occasions but Hearts were well structured to ensure that the next Celtic pass was either sideways or ambitious.
Hearts were at their most effective as a defensive and attacking force when engaging with Celtic higher up the pitch, stopping their midfield players from getting easy possession and turning to build through the lines.
If they could continue that after the interval...
Second half
Despite some openings in the first half, Hearts came out for the second half without a lead. The following 52 minutes (due to a lengthy stoppage because the linesman picked up an injury) wasn't a case of Celtic popping Hearts off the park. Rodgers' side didn't have to work that hard for their four goals.
When teams concede there is almost always an element that they can point to as the root cause. That was very much the case at Tynecastle Park.
-
Goal No.1 - Daniel Oyegoke's clearance cannons off Callum McGregor straight to Kyogo after the Hearts centre-back was well-positioned to cut out a through pass.
-
Goal No.2 - Hearts get caught from a corner. Devlin thinks he has a free header but Daizen Maeda uses his body well and Celtic break with pace, something Hearts struggle to do aside from Penrice.
-
Goal No.3 - Kye Rowles wins the ball well from Reo Hatate, using his body, but he and Frankie Kent both watch as Paulo Bernardo nips in between them to set up Adam Idah.
-
Goal No.4 - Kent gets tackled in the final third and Celtic spring forward with Jorge Grant fouling James Forrest in the box.
Celtic never really sliced Hearts open for any of the goals.
However, it would be remiss not to note the fact they created other chances, notably very early in the second half. Kuhn finding a wee bit of space to clip a lovely pass in behind the disjointed Hearts defence for Kyogo sneaking behind Kent. It is the type of pass they tried throughout the match.
Celtic played higher up the park.
Rodgers spoke of a tweak to the positioning and the most noticeable aspect was Reo Hatate dropping deeper to play closer to McGregor and he became more involved. This meant that it wasn't quite as easy for Hearts to nullify the Celtic captain who is their tempo-setter.
Take the example below. Look how high Celtic are up the pitch. McGregor is getting more time and now Baningime is having to step out to someone other than the Celtic captain.
Comparing Hearts' heat map out of possession there is a noticeable difference. In the first half, they engage wide and high up the pitch. Notice that there is little heat in their own defensive third. They kept Celtic at arm's length.
Hearts swarmed as Trusty attempted to play out with Hatate and McGregor on the edge of their own box facing their own goal. It seemed Shankland thought he was offside before laying the ball to Devlin but Trusty got back to block. It was another example where the final bit of awareness, composure, and/or decision-making let Hearts down in the final third.
And, so, with that ideal chance to get back into the match passed up, Hearts were made to regret another missed opportunity.
The story of their season.
Read the rules here