Match Highlights | Celtic 3-0 Hearts | Commanding victory for the Celts in Paradise!

Scottish Premiership
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Celtic Park, Hearts

CELTIC... 3

(Kyogo 4 & 21, O'Riley pen 87)

HEARTS... 0

Celtic swept Hearts aside at Celtic Park with a dominant performance securing three points in a crucial game.

The match started at a lively pace and Hearts created the first opportunity after only a minute, with Lawrence Shankland’s shot from inside the box being deflected wide.

However, it wasn’t long before Celtic created a chance of their own, with some good link-up play between Nicolas Kuhn, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley resulting in a corner for the Hoops.

The cross from O’Riley found its way to Hatate on the edge of the area, who drifted a ball in to the box where Kyogo was waiting to head it home, giving the Hoops an early lead with only four minutes on the clock.

The game continued to move at an exciting pace and it wasn’t long before Joe Hart was called in to action, with the Celtic keeper producing a world-class save to deny Cammy Devlin from equalising for the visitors.

James Forrest, making his first start at Celtic Park since November, looked like he was in the mood to cause problems for Hearts, and his pass across the box to Kyogo evaded the Japanese by inches as the Celts hunted for a second goal.

But with 21 minutes on the clock, Brendan Rodgers’ men doubled their lead. This time, it was a stunning lofted Matt O'Riley pass just over the halfway line which found Kyogo six yards from goal.

There was only going to be one outcome, and the ball nestled in the back of the net as Kyogo bagged his first brace of the season.

The forward was unfortunate not to grab a first-half hat-trick, his shot on the turn inside the box just before half time being tipped wide by Zander Clark to keep the score 2-0 going in at the break.

Neither manager made any changes at half-time, and with just short of 10 minutes of the second half played, Kenneth Vargas found himself through on goal but a brave bit of play from Joe Hart to close down the space denied the Hearts forward the chance to equalise.

The offside flag went up just after Hart had dealt with the danger, but it was a moment of courage from the Hoops keeper that set the tone for Celtic’s second half performance.

A few moments later, Callum McGregor dug deep to track back at pace and win the ball off of the advancing Vargas with a good challenge, a piece of defensive work that drew a huge cheer from the Celtic faithful.

The Hearts keeper then produced a double save to deny Matt O’Riley and then Reo Hatate just shy of the hour mark.

The atmosphere within Celtic Park was crackling, with the supporters impressed with the team’s performance, and the decibel level was increased when Daizen Maeda came on as a substitute after his return from injury.

With less than five minutes of the 90 to play, there was a massive claim for a handball in the Hearts penalty area from Shankland, and Kevin Clancy was sent to the monitor.

After a short VAR review, the penalty was awarded and Matt O’Riley stepped up to make it 3-0 to Celtic and secure the three points.
Brendan Rodgers’ men will now look ahead to next Saturday’s Glasgow derby which kicks off at 12.30pm at Celtic Park.

#CELHEA | #cinchPrem | #COYBIG🍀

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