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Celtic stroll clear of stumbling rivals at Premiership summit as Hearts left with Shankland headache – 3 talking points
Kyogo was the Heart breaker again as the Hoops hitman maintained his personal vendetta against the Jambos.
The striker has notched more goals against the Gorgie men than any other side in Scotland and he made it number 11 with the crucial opener at Tynecastle. Nicolas Kuhn kept up his incredible return for the season with a quick-fire second as the Parkhead club thumped Hearts with a rapid double around the hour mark to seal the deal and go three points ahead of Aberdeen at the top of the Premiership – and a mammoth 11 in front of Rangers.
Sub Adam Idah added to the pain with a late brace including a penalty after Musa Drammeh had briefly pulled one back. But the Jambos were left kicking themselves at letting the Hoops off the hook – with Blair Spittal and Lawrence Shankland missing sitters in a dominant opening half.
It was a lesson in clinical finishing as Celtic had the quality to punish the hosts when the chances arose. Brendan Rodgers’ men had plenty of the ball in the opening period – but it was the Jambos who possessed the menace.
Critchley’s men pressed the Hoops right out of their comfort zone and should have been ahead. Shankland blasted wide when he had to hit the target after Blair Spittal couldn’t quite get hold of his drive in the opening minutes.
There was another header from Shankland straight at Kasper Schmeichel and a desperate block from Cameron Carter-Vickers to deny Alan Forrest’s low rocket. Celts were not creating much with a Daizen Maeda header over the top the closest they came until Craig Gordon’s stunning save soon after the restart.
Kyogo looked set to bury it after spinning on to Nicholas Kuhn’s delightful ball over the top – but Scotland’s no.1 produced a brilliant block. The next time the Japanese star wouldn’t miss. There was some fortune about it too as Daniel Oyegoke’s attempted clearance smashed off Callum McGregor and right into the striker’s path and even then it took another double kiss off Gordon on the way into the net.
Barely two minutes later and Celts pounced again – and this time there was nothing lucky about it as Kuhn raced on to Maeda’s pass and slammed high into the net. Hearts were stunned but still had chances, with sub Anthony Ralston accidentally knocking the ball off his own post and a couple of other opinions blown by dithering in the final third.
And it was Idah who showed how to do it when he slotted a third past Gordion after he sped on to McGregor’s through ball. It wasn't quite done as the Jambos finally found the net when Drammeh drilled into the bottom corner with eight minutes to go – but more pain was on the way when Idah slotted a stoppage time penalty after James Forrest was clipped by Jorge Grant.
Lethal injection
Hearts must have been wondering what hit them around the hour. They had been doing a job on Celtic and the visitors had barely got a sniff in front of goal.
But the Hoops have the quality to hurt sides at any moment. Kyogo only had six touches in the first half but nearly scored with his first after the interval and then did with his next.
Kuhn was also fairly quiet but there’s a reason he’s now notched 11 goals for the season and created the same number of assists. The German is deadly in front of goal and that was the difference between the team. Celtic took their chances – while Hearts remain blunt in the final third.
Pressing matters
It’s still early days for Neil Critchley at Hearts but there are signs the manager is making his mark. The Jambos are getting more used to his pressing style – and they certainly made life uncomfortable for Celts.
The midfield was where the hard graft was done with Cammy Devlin leading the charge and snapping at heels. But it’s easy to see where the manager’s problems lie. Hearts are woeful in front of goal. They’re firing too many blanks in and Lawrence Shankland’s woes won’t go away with the striker missing another big chance. Kenneth Vargas got booed by Jambos fans when he came off the bench after his recent wantaway comments and it’s clear Critchley badly needs some fire power.
Long haul Hoops
It was understandable Brendan Rodgers wanted to roll out his full strength side to get back to league business – and build up to Club Brugge on Wednesday. But it was still a big ask for some of his squad. The likes of Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate faced around the world dashes back from international duty, while Alistair Johnston and Auston Trusty also hopped across the Atlantic.
Even internationals who were closer to home looked a tad jet lagged. They still got the job done and Rodgers was able to make some changes to begin preparations for Europe and still have quality like Adam Idah coming off the bench.
The depth of squad is a frightening thought for the rest as the bench was as strong as the starting line up. With the quality as Celtic’s disposal, it’s hard to see anyone stopping them over the winter long haul and beyond.
