Hearts 3-1 Celtic: Statement win puts Hearts eight points clear in Premiership title race

Hearts have defeated Celtic 3-1 to open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Premiership table and deliver a statement win in the title race.

An own goal from Dane Murray was canceled out by Callum McGregor’s strike, but second-half goals from Alexandros Kyziridis and Lawrence Shankland gave Hearts a huge win at Tynecastle and a sixth consecutive victory.

The sides went into the top of the table clash with Hearts in the ascendancy and holding a five-point gap over the defending champions.

Celtic were looking to build on Thursday’s win over Sturm Graz but that Europa League win had come at a cost with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Alistair Johnston and Kelechi Iheanacho all injured in that game.

Brendan Rodgers brought in Dane Murray, Colby Donovan and Johnny Kenny, while Derek McInnes kept an unchanged team after five wins on the bounce. Consistency was to pay off in the early stages.

Hearts came flying out of the blocks and pushed a hesitant-looking Celtic back from the start, getting their reward after just eight minutes.

Claudio Braga’s header forced a fingertip save from Kasper Schmeichel but Shankland picked up the rebound and put the ball across goal from a narrow angle. Murray slashed an attempted clearance into his own net and Tynecastle erupted.

Celtic responded quickly. Four minutes after going behind, a slick passing move released Kieran Tierney on the left side of the box and his cutback was met by McGregor, who stroked a low finish into the far corner.

The visitors were on top after their equaliser and could have taken the lead through Benjamin Nygren. A poor kick-out from Alexander Schwolow gave Celtic possession and when the ball was played across goal, Nygren took a neat touch and then tried to dink home a finish. Schwolow got his fingertips to it and made the save but the Swedish attacker really should have buried the opportunity.

The sides went in level at half time but after the restart, Hearts got back on top and soon took control of the game after a moment of magic from Kyziridis.

The Greek winger had been having plenty of joy on the left flank and he collected a pass before cutting inside and drilling a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net with Schmeichel outstretched. Advantage Hearts, and with more to come.

Just a minute after the restart, another attack from the hosts saw the ball worked in to Braga in the box. Murray misjudged his challenge, fouled the striker and referee Steven McLean pointed to the spot.

Shankland stepped up to take the penalty and though Schmeichel went the right way, he couldn’t keep out the powerful finish.

Rodgers responded with a triple change, introducing Shin Yamada, James Forrest and Michel-Ange Balikwisha to replace Sebastian Tounekti, Johnny Kenny and Reo Hatate.

The visitors couldn’t fashion clear chances and the Celtic boss turned to his bench again to bring Luke McCowan on for Benjamin Nygren with 20 minutes to go. At the same time, Derek McInnes replaced Kyziridis with club record signing Ageu, and substituted Oisin McEntee for Michael Steinwender.

Hearts had a big chance for a fourth when Shankland broke away through the middle and picked out Braga, who fed Ageu on the left. The Brazilian got his shot away but found Schmeichel equal to it.

McCowan went close with a shot that whistled by the post and Engles did similar with a shot from distance but Celtic were still struggling to create good quality chances.

With ten minutes to go Braga was withdrawn for Tomas Magnusson and Hearts were closing in on victory.

Celtic continued to push but couldn’t prevent a second consecutive Premiership defeat, as belief in Hearts’ title challenge was given a huge boost.