Hearts break Celtic to storm clear at the top of the SPFL
Hearts widened the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to eight points with a 3-1 statement win over second-place Celtic.
The league leader struck inside just eight minutes as a Claudio Braga header forced an acrobatic save from Kasper Schmeichel, who clawed it against the post, but the subsequent rebounded effort from Lawrence Shankland wreaked havoc as Dane Murray's turned into his own net.
The reigning champion swiftly retorted, restoring parity in the 12th minute through captain Callum McGregor, who linked up neatly with Kieran Tierney, before rolling a guided left-footed finish into the back of the net.
Yet Hearts started the second half brilliantly, as Alexandros Kyziridis cut in from the left, drilling it past Schmeichel to put the host back in front.
Defender Murray's display went from bad to worse when he gave away a penalty in the 54th minute after he hacked Braga down inside the box, with Shankland slotting coolly past Celtic's goalkeeper to create breathing room at Tynecastle.
While Brendan Rodgers' side probed late on, Hearts held firm, seeing out a potentially season-defining victory and ensuring their unbeaten start to the season continued.
