Celtic remain favourites for the Premiership title after making Hearts wait to confirm third place with a 3-0 win in Glasgow. Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi struck twice inside the first 21 minutes to expose sub-standard marking by the visiting defence, and Matt O’Riley converted a late penalty. This was not as meek a surrender by those in maroon as the scoreline may suggest, nonetheless they were beaten comfortably.
Celtic moved six points ahead of Rangers at the top of the table as it stands but a win for the Ibrox side over Kilmarnock on Sunday would guarantee Hearts third spot. The Edinburgh club will earn upwards of £5m through European league-stage football should that transpire. However, this result is one they will wish to forget.
With the title and third place still to be decided, there was plenty riding on this game in Glasgow’s east end. Lawrence Shankland’s early effort was deflected wide of Joe Hart’s goal and Celtic then opened the scoring through Kyogo. With less than four minutes played, O’Riley’s corner was punched clear by the Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark, Reo Hatate returned it into the penalty area for his unmarked compatriot to head home. VAR dismissed the visitors’ claims of offside.
Hearts continued passing with intent and midfielder Jorge Grant created an opening for Cammy Devlin after 10 minutes, the Australian forcing Hart into the air for a one-handed stop. Then Celtic doubled their advantage and effectively ended the game as a contest on 21 minutes. O’Riley’s raking crossfield ball from the left found Kyogo peeling away into space and, once again unmarked, he executed a precise one-touch finish low beyond Clark.
Greg Taylor, O’Riley and Kyogo forced further saves from the Scotland international keeper before half-time as Celtic turned the screw. Although Hearts had passed the ball confidently and got into some dangerous positions, their defending at both goals was the reason they were 2-0 down. That and Kyogo’s intelligent movement.
Clark beat away shots from O’Riley and Reo Hatate before the hour mark with Celtic’s attacks relentless at that point in the game. Hearts recovered and broke forward on 75 minutes through substitute Yutaro Oda. He exchanged passes with fellow replacement Scott Fraser before shooting straight at Hart. That was the last proper scoring opportunity for the away side.
Celtic saw the afternoon out in relative comfort and added a third goal from the penalty spot on 87 minutes, O’Riley converting after Shankland was penalised for handling Luis Palma’s corner-kick.
Here are the Hearts player ratings from Celtic Park.
1. GK: Zander Clark
6/10 Won't be happy conceding two early goals which effectively ended the game as a contest. Produced a few good saves, though.
2. RCB: Stephen Kingsley
7/10 Comfortable on the ball and tried to build attacks from the back.
3. CB: Frankie Kent
6/10 Kyogo's direct opponent but the Japanese was roaming free at both goals.
4. LCB: Kye Rowles
6/10 Had a decent game. Won tackles and distributed the ball with confidence but also culpable for allowing Kyogo too much room.