Celtic 2-0 Hearts: Hosts leapfrog Rangers to go top with dominant win over nine-man Edinburgh side
Relaxation for Celtic came late in the day. Alex Cochrane was first to go after 89 minutes, Toby Sibbick followed moments later and with, Hearts down to nine men, substitute Giorgos Giakoumakis secured the points with a long-awaited second goal.
Kudos to Hearts. With the second leg of his side’s Europa League play-off against FC Zurich in mind, Robbie Neilson gambled on starting Scottish football’s toughest away shift with six of his first choice players missing.
Despite losing an early goal from Kyogo Furuhashi it almost worked. For much of the second half the controlled aggression of Hearts cast Celtic Park into pensive silence. Pushing for a point, the red cards killed them.
Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi netted the opener for his side just 13 minutes into the game
The win means the hosts leapfrog rivals Rangers to move to the top of the Premiership table
In the theme of the weekend Neilson was unhappy with referee Kevin Clancy. Four yellow cards and two reds drained his team of spirit and hope just as the board flashed up for one final effort.
Against nine men Celtic could finally relax enough to cut loose and make hay. Far from a vintage performance, Giakoumakis bundled the ball home in added time to open up a two point gap on Rangers at the summit of the Premiership.
By their own high standards, Celtic made heavy weather of stretching their unbeaten league run to 36 games. Missing first choice players Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley and Craig Gordon from the squad, Ross Stewart played in goal.
Last season the back-up keeper played three games last season and Hearts lost all of them. He lost this one as well, but made some fine saves to preserve the element of doubt until the final minutes.
A minute’s applause was observed before the game after the passing of John Hughes
Alex Cochrane (right) was sent off late on for Hearts after receiving a second yellow card
Winless in their last 25 visits to Parkhead, Hearts failed to seriously test Joe Hart but will take the positives from the way they came off the ropes to throw a punch or two of their own.
You could almost hear Robbie Neilson telling his players to dig deep and withstand the early blitz. Against this Celtic side it’s easier said than done. In the course of their 35 game unbeaten run the champions had scored inside the opening 30 minutes all of 28 times. So it was here.
David Turnbull’s perfectly weighted ball towards Daizen Maeda saw the Japanese attacker evade the challenge of left back Cochrane to make time and space for a driven cross.
The space and time afforded to Furuhashi to flash the ball past Stewart from 10 yards for his third goal in three games was a colossal act of self harm. In defensive terms it might have been the last one they made.
Celtic were made to fight for their three points but leapfrog rivals Rangers with the win
The visitors crafted their first chance before the half hour, from a crisp and unexpected passing move started in his own half by former Celtic winger Gary Mackay-Steven.
For the first time in the game Josh Ginnelly had space to exploit his space and, with Joe Hart well off his line, dragged a low long-range shot past the far post when a lofted effort might have been the better option.
When they had the chances Hearts failed to test Hart often enough yet, so long as they kept the deficit to a single goal, they were in the game.
Celtic banged hard at the door in a quest to kill it before the interval, but failed to craft too many clear cut opportunities.
Robbie Neilson’s side struggled defensively throughout and were made to pay for their errors
Matt O’Riley’s lofted cross landed on the head of Maeda was the best of them and the striker should have done better than a tame downward effort straight into the keeper’s arms.
Greg Taylor – Celtic’s much improved left-back – had a fizzing long range strike clutched in the air by Stewart. Racing on to a long ball, he was foiled minutes later by a smartly timed piece of defending by Hearts captain for the day Peter Haring.
When the home team took the early lead it looked like an exercise in damage limitation.
Protecting the vulnerable figure of Stewart in goal, catching Celtic offside time and again, packing the defensive third of the pitch with bodies, Hearts made it to half-time with cautious aspirations of more.
A strong bench offered the prospect of making it to the final half hour with a chance of bringing on the big guns and salvaging something from the game.
Giorgos Giakoumakis secured the points for Celtic with a late second goal for the hosts
Toby Sibbick was also sent off for a second yellow card as Hearts ended with nine men
They stated the second half in a fashion which suggested Robbie Neilson didn’t plan to wait that long.
A sustained period of attacking possession reduced the home support to pensive silence. Ange Postecoglou normally waits an hour to make changes; this time he went sooner.
The arrival of Liel Abada and Reo Hatate almost paid swift dividends. Regarded as a weak link in the Hearts rearguard, ‘keeper Stewart produced a reflex stop on the line to block O’Riley’s fizzing shot from a Greg Taylor low cross.
Still in the contest, asking questions, the arrival of Hearts big guns Barrie McKay and Lawrence Shankland was logical.
Celtic were making heavy weather of things, the arrival of Giakoumakis for the goalscorer Furuhashi an attempt to remedy the situation.
The Greek’s introduction made the difference in the end. Yet red cards for two Hearts players in the 89th and 91stminutes was clearly an influencing factor.
Cochrane had already been booked when he copped a second yellow for clattering Callum McGregor on the touchline. Neilson was still arguing the toss with the fourth official when Tony Sibbick followed his teammate down the tunnel for a foul on Liel Abada.
Not for the first time in the weekend two red cards in one game meant bad news for Rangers.
Hopes of a Hearts equaliser diminished completely when Giakoumakis – foiled by a fine Stewart save moments earlier – bundled a Josip Juranovic low cross into the net from close range.
