Robbie Neilson was rightly thrilled with the performance his side produced in the hardest fixture Scottish football has to offer, as Hearts stuck to the game plan of trying to play through Celtic’s famed and feared press.
Josh Ginnelly’s opener was a perfect example of the bravery and fluidity Hearts played with; 12 seconds and four passes after Cammy Devlin won the ball inside his own half, Ginnelly was wheeling away in celebration after nodding in Andy Halliday’s inviting cross.
Hearts could not maintain the blistering tempo playing at a raucous Celtic Park demands, and Devlin was himself caught in possession when the hosts took the lead after the interval.
The Jambos have won six of their last seven home games, the only blemish being a 3-0 reverse when Rangers rocked up to the capital in February.
Celtic only narrowly emerged with all three points on their most recent visit to Tynecastle, with the lead swapping hands three times before the reigning champions ultimately earned a 4-3 win – Hearts are the only Scottish team to score as many as three goals in the same game against Celtic this season
or the second outing in a row, Celtic conceded the opening goal in the sixth minute as Ange Postecoglou’s 100th match in charge of the club threatened to become a landmark not worth remembering.
However, Kyogo Furuhashi emerged as Celtic’s saviour once again, teeing up Daizen Maeda’s first-half equaliser before finding the net himself on the hour mark – Sead Haksabanovic sealed all three points with a rasping drive into the top corner in the closing stages
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Celtic have now won their last 12 matches across all competitions and are yet to taste defeat since Real Madrid dismantled Postecoglou’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu in November.
Boasting a nine-point lead at the Premiershipsummit, Celtic have already snagged the League Cup in their bid for a domestic treble, while Hearts are trying to avenge the defeat they suffered against Rangers in last season’s Scottish Cup final.
Celtic scored five goals against both second-tier Greenock Morton and top-flight St Mirren en route to this stage of the competition, while Hearts followed up the satisfaction of an Edinburgh derby victory over Hibernian in the fourth round with a 2-0 win against Championship side Hamilton Academical.
