Dominant Hearts Defeat Disappointing Celtic to Move 8 Pts in Front

Lawrence Shankland celebrates impressive victory
Lawrence Shankland secured the team's emphatic victory

At a glance

  • Kyziridis & Shankland secure Hearts win and send them eight points clear at summit
  • Callum McGregor equalized the early own goal by Dane Murray
  • Hosts go 13 games without defeat for the first occasion in over two decades

The dominant Edinburgh side surged eight ahead of Celtic at the summit of the Scottish Premiership to bolster their early-season championship claims and deepen the malaise around the Celtic team.

A superb goal from Kyziridis and a spot-kick from Shankland gave Derek McInnes' side a 3-1 lead that the reigning champions could not recover from.

The young defender - one of three youngsters in the Celtic XI - scored an own goal in the early stages to put the home side ahead at a energetic their home ground, and it was the 22-year-old's foul that led to the penalty.

Callum McGregor's classy first goal of the season had swiftly equalized Hearts' opener, and Benjamin Nygren almost put Rodgers' team in front, choosing placement over power and allowing Alexander Schwolow to save from close range.

But Derek McInnes' irrepressible Hearts regained dominance to hand Celtic to back-to-back losses for the first time since last year.

It also gives the Edinburgh side a commanding advantage at the top of the table.

The last time they were so far clear was in the 2005-2006 season under George Burley, when they ended as runners-up - one of just four occasions that a team has not secured the title having held such a lead in the last three decades.

McInnes, whose former team were second to Celtic on four occasions, has been working hard to play down championship discussions, as Hearts seek their maiden league title since 1960.

Rodgers has seen it all before at Celtic - both flawless and stuttering starts to a season. He's never ended as runner-up.

But on the weekend's performance, this Hearts team showed they deserve serious consideration.

Match Analysis: Hearts Take Advantage of Weakened The Visitors

Hearts started with the confidence of a side undefeated in the league this season - the popular attacker delivered a ball for the striker to stab wide.

The Glasgow team didn't aid their cause with some uncharacteristic carelessness in possession and they faltered under their initial test.

A headed effort from Braga was tipped onto the woodwork by the Celtic keeper and Shankland's return ball was diverted goalwards by the hapless defender, in for the absent center-back.

The away side found their rhythm and started stringing passes together. From one such move, the midfielder released Tierney to set up the captain, who rolled in.

Match action from the Premiership clash

Apart from the Nygren chance, the visitors struggled to create much for lone frontman Jonny Kenny or his replacement Shin Yamada amid the unavailability of stricken attackers their key strikers.

Hearts regained their intensity and versatility in creating chances in the opposition half. The Greek forward, one of the finds of the club's relationship with shareholder Tony Bloom's Jamestown Analytics, fired a low shot past the goalkeeper from the just outside the area.

Almost straight away, Murray tripped the midfielder in the inside right channel and Shankland converted. And it could've been an even more handsome win, had replacement Ageu not been stopped by the shot-stopper.

The visitors' performance after the break was partially encapsulated in a couple of moments involving record signing Arne Engles.

The midfielder's wayward free-kick delivery was in sharp opposition to his midweek exploits in the continental victory over Sturm Graz and the Belgium international was then yellow-carded for a cynical foul.

What They Said

The Hearts manager: "You see how hard the players work, the togetherness. That's not sufficient on its own to win games week in, week out.

"Our strength lies in, is skillful players. You're seeing that from multiple individuals who have been here before. Some of the new signings are eager to show that.

"We've got a good thing going at the minute, but it's just one win. It's crucial for us to maintain this form. We've got loads to do, plenty to improve. Following the initial fixtures is normally an indication of where you are."

The Celtic boss: "The second goal was disappointing from our perspective. We failed to push up when the play was recycled as a defensive unit so when they pass the ball, they should have players offside but didn't. We have got to do better with the attempt.

"Plenty of matches to play for. It's only the beginning. It's only nine games in. Obviously, being eight adrift is not what we would want. The positive is there's numerous fixtures to play.

"We now have to focus on the here and now and look to find more consistency and better performance in our play."

What's Next for These Teams?

Celtic are back at home on Wednesday against promoted side Falkirk (19:45 GMT). At the identical hour in the top division, the Edinburgh outfit are at St Mirren.

Player of the Match

Number: 89 A. Kyziridis
Average rating 8.65

Team Ratings

  • Jersey: 89 Alexandros Kyziridis - Average Rating: 8.65
  • Jersey: 9 Lawrence Shankland - Average Rating: 8.40
  • Number: 4 C. Halkett - Score: 8.30
  • Number: 10 Braga - Score: 8.27
  • Number: 14 Cameron Devlin - Score: 8.22
  • Jersey: 6 Beni Baningime - Score: 8.16
  • Number: 19 Stuart Findlay - Score: 8.07
  • Jersey: 3 S. Kingsley - Score: 8.06
  • Number: 18 Harry Milne - Average Rating: 8.05
  • Jersey: 25 A. Schwolow - Score: 8.04
  • Jersey: 31 O. McEntee - Average Rating: 7.74
  • Jersey: 40 Ageu - Score: 7.35
  • Jersey: 7 E. Kabangu - Average Rating: 7.22
  • Number: 22 Theodor Magnússon - Score: 7.05
  • Jersey: 15 Maximilian Steinwender - Score: 7.01
  • Jersey: 5 Jamie McCart - Average Rating: 6.82

Celtic Player Scores

  • Jersey: 42 Callum McGregor - Average Rating: 4.02
  • Number: 1 K. Schmeichel - Score: 3.85
  • Jersey: 63 K. Tierney - Score: 3.68
  • Number: 23 S. Tounekti - Score: 3.56
  • Number: 5 Liam Scales - Score: 3.43
  • Number: 51 Cillian Donovan - Average Rating: 3.34
  • Number: 8 Benjamin Nygren - Score: 3.28
  • Jersey: 27 Arne Engels - Score: 3.24
  • Number: 49 James Forrest - Average Rating: 3.10
  • Number: 14 Liam McCowan - Score: 3.09
  • Number: 41 Reo Hatate - Score: 3.05
  • Jersey:
Lisa Tyler
Lisa Tyler

A data scientist specializing in AI ethics and machine learning applications in healthcare.