Champions dismantle Jambos on painful return to scene of last season’s dismay
We talk about statement wins in football and this was one of them from Celtic, completely obliterating Hearts in a bodybuilder-esque flex of their muscles.
The defending Premiership champions put on a show at Celtic Park with a 7-1 victory. They were 5-1 up at the break against a Hearts team left to lick some serious wounds. This was a day that the Tynecastle side could display title credentials of their own but broke down badly on the big stage.
On their return to the venue where 155 days ago they went down 3-1 to Celtic to lose the title in the final minutes, this reversal was more embarrassing than anywhere near the pain of that day. Hearts have rightly been lauded for the style of football they are playing under head coach Wouter Vrancken, but they are always open and Celtic ruthlessly flogged them in public.
Celtic are now four points clear of Rangers in second place after nine matches and eight ahead of the third-placed Jambos. For a team whose credentials have been questioned over the past month for failing to win big matches, this was an enormous V-sign in the direction of their critics.
Manager Martin O'Neill was considering his future only a few weeks ago but this result will act as a huge vitamin pill for the 74-year-old. Celtic now have something to build on and issued a reminder to the rest of Scottish football who the top dog is.
They were given assistance by Hearts, who defended two early corner kicks very poorly to go two goals down by ten minutes. They were cheap in possession and ragged. Vrancken wants his team to be adventurous but if they are not secure at the back, chances come opponents' way.
Celtic's front line was on it. With record signing Kasper Hogh dropped to the bench, Camilo Duran was asked to play in the No 9 role and did so with aplomb. Callum Osmand was given his first senior start and scored two goals before he was withdrawn at the break. The 20-year-old clearly enjoys playing against Hearts given he scored the final goal on title day last season.
There was no pitch invasion this time. Just rubbing maroon noses in it after another haymaker at Celtic Park. Two days ago, a Copa90 YouTube documentary on the final days of Hearts' failed title tilt last season was released. It features grown men crying and lays bare the emotion of last season. This weekend was a reminder of what might have been and Hearts must be sick of the sight of Parkhead.
Earlier this week, Hearts shareholder Tony Bloom said he still expects the Gorgie boys to be champions of Scotland by 2035. They will need to defend so much better to make his wish come true.
The Celtic siege begins
Celtic started the rout on seven minutes. Mika Baur swung in a corner that was flicked on by Liam Scales and Kieran Tierney was completely unmarked three yards out and he nodded home.
It was 2-0 three minutes later. Dane Murray hooked the ball back into the danger area from another corner and Benjamin Nygren side-footed home via a deflection off Calvin Miller.
Haissem Hassan, who was a constant menace down the right, smacked the post with a shot on 17 minutes and then Hearts keeper Beau Reus made a good save with his feet to stop Nygren. Then the visitors had a sniff of an opening when Jamie McCart headed narrowly wide from Jordi Altena's delivery.
Hearts then completely self-destructed in the final ten minutes of the first half. The ineffective Sabri Guendouz, making his first league start of the season, didn't look when passing the ball back to his defence on 35 minutes, Duran pounced and played in Osmand to net easily. Three minutes later, the duo combined again after a meek challenge for Malachi Fagan-Walcott allowed Duran to get a shot on goal and then clip the rebound back across goal for Osmand to head into an empty net.
Hearts briefly stopped the bleeding on 41 minutes when Laurent Mendy curled home from the edge of the penalty box but Celtic were completely non-plussed by the concession of a goal, with Baur slaloming his way through on goal and dinking the ball over Reus. While Stephen Kingsley got to the ball on the line, he only succeeded in hitting it off McCart and in.
Celtic Park was agog with joy at the interval. Another goal came five minutes into the second half when Tierney sent Duran through and the Colombian coolly finished. Raging Hearts defender McCart put his fingers to his temples and urged his teammates to keep focus. No more goals, please.
O'Neill delivered some clemency by withdrawing captain Callum McGregor - you know the game is done when he is withdrawn - as well as Duran and Tierney. There was a debut for Chelsea loanee Landon Emenalo at left-back. Celtic could afford to experiment.
Hearts had a couple of fleeting attacking moments but the game was now lulling. Hassan was taken off on 70 minutes. Celtic face Celta Vigo on Thursday in the Europa League, a match they really have to win, and the big guns were being kept fresh for that assignment.
The final 20 or so minutes descended into a training session but there was still time for another goal. Hogh unselfishly played in Nygren and he finished on 83 minutes. The tannoy man played the theme tune to The Magnificent Seven, while Celtic fans sang “Hearts are falling apart, again”.
Hearts head to deepest Turkey in the Conference League to face Trabzonspor - who have Mo Salah in their ranks - on Thursday. Plenty of time for soul-searching at 36,000 feet. For Celtic, confidence and supremacy are now sky high.