Hearts were defeated 2-0 by Celtic at Parkhead this afternoon.
Second half strikes from Arne Engels and Luke McCowan secured the points for the table topping hosts, but the Jambos gave a battling account of themselves in the east end of Glasgow.
Steven Naismith made three alterations to the side that faced Dundee United prior to the international break. Kye Rowles slotted into defence in place of the ill Frankie Kent, whilst Gerald Taylor replaced Yutaro Oda, with the fit again Beni Baningime drafted in ahead of Blair Spittal.
The first chance of the piece fell the way of Celtic after three minutes with a well worked move down the right side. Alastair Johnston did well to make ground before delivering a low ball across the face if goal that was sent wide at the last moment by Arne Engels.
Another came after seven minutes when a delightful ball forward from Callum McGregor picked out Daizen Maeda with accuracy. The Celtic bared on goal and lobbed Craig Gordon, with Gerald Taylor able to race in and hook the ball away from danger.
The Jambos rode their luck and were fortunate when Kyogo Furuhashi blasted wide from an excellent position after a slack pass in the Hearts midfield allowed the Japanese forward to steal a march.
Chances continued to tumble from the Glasgow sky, with Craig Gordon called into action for the first time after 15 minutes as he parried a vicious snapshot from Reo Hatate from the edge of the area.
Celtic were unfortunate not to claim the lead after 22 minutes when Engels was sent into the Hearts area following a sublime flick-on from Nicolas Kuhn. The Dutchman shot from an angle, with his effort crashing out off the post as Hearts cleared.
The half-hour mark saw two big moments for Hearts. Jorge Grant’s delivery from the free kick saw Shankland’s header saved by Kasper Schmeichel. From the resulting corner, another Shankland header appeared to have been handled by Liam Scales.
After a lengthy VAR review from referee Colin Steven, it was eventually overturned as no penalty. From there, Hearts started to build themselves up after weathering a storm for much of the first half.
Lawrence Shankland displayed a delightful roll away from his marker after a one-two with Jorge Grant, going for goal from 25-yards – with his accurate effort not quite having enough power to beat Schmeichel, who claimed.
In a half packed with action, Craig Gordon produced a fine save in stoppage time to deny Kyogo, before James Penrice made a vital intervention to prevent Nicolas Kuhn’s rebounded effort from crossing the line.
HT: Celtic 0-0 Heart of Midlothian
The second half begun in disappointing fashion for Hearts as Celtic broke the deadlock after 51 minutes through an Arne Engels penalty. James Penrice was judged to have handled Kuhn’s cross.
Another lengthy consultation with VAR followed, with referee Colin Steven awarding the spot kick to the hosts. Engels stepped up to send Gordon the wrong way as Celtic claimed the lead.
Good defending by Craig Halkett prevented Celtic from grabbing a quickfire second, as he threw his body down to divert Arne Engels’ close range attempt behind after good build up play from Celtic.
Hearts kept at it with Lawrence Shankland fashioning a good chance for himself on the hour mark. He deftly controlled the ball and unleashed another vicious strike at Kasper Schmeichel, with the Dane forced into making a good save.
As the game entered its final ten minutes, Hearts were still in the game. Substitute Blair Spittal made a menace of himself on the left flank with his searching cross picking out debutant Musa Drammeh – he got a foot to it from close range with Schmeichel throwing himself down to halt it.
With the game into it’s final stages, Celtic added a second through Luke McCowan. James Forrest laid the ball into his path on the edge of the box, with his ranged strike beating Gordon.
And within eight minutes of added time, Adam Idah thought he had added quickfire third after the Irishman sweeped home a cross – with a subsequent VAR check ruling the goal out for offside.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Johnston, Taylor, Scales, Furuhashi (Idah 70’), Kühn (Bernardo 65’), Carter-Vickers, Engels (McCowan 80’), Maeda (Palma 80’), Hatate (Forrest 65’), McGregor ©
Subs: Sinisalo, Trusty, Palma, Idah, Valle, McCowan, Bernardo, Forrest, Ralston
Hearts: Gordon, Kingsley, Halkett, Baningime (Dhanda 78’), Grant (Devlin 70’), Shankland © (Forrest 80’), Rowles, Boateng, Penrice (Spittal 80’), Vargas (Musa 70’), Taylor
Subs: Clark, Kent, Oyegoke, Devlin, Spittal, Forrest, Dhanda, Musa, Salazar
