We did not witness at Tynecastle, with it being far too early for such landmarks. The encounter underlined is that the Edinburgh club are at least in with serious opportunity of ending Scottish football's long-standing dominance by two. They now lead by eight points for the maroon side over Celtic, whom they comfortably swatted aside. Catch them if you can.
Three second-half minutes were key, after an opening period that was fiercely fought. It was remarkable after they took a 3-1 lead was how comfortable the remainder of the game was for the Tynecastle team. The Greek winger netted the second goal, cutting in from the left before blasting a strike past the static the goalkeeper. Delight increased in the stands, Murray fouling the Hearts player for a spot-kick that the captain converted. The Celtic manager cut such a disconsolate figure; his problems are mounting.
Fans start to rejoice after Alexandros Kyziridis (second right) scores to make it 2-1 against the opposition.
Celtic bounced back from an early setback. Dane Murray, who struggled throughout, scored an own goal due to panic when trying to remove a Shankland cross. They gradually fought back into the game, the captain Callum McGregor, scoring a Kieran Tierney cutback for 1-1.
The shot-stopper Alexander Schwolow, who had denied from Benjamin Nygren in the first half, parried an Engels shot which deflected off Tómas Magnússon. Halkett thwarted a Yamada attempt in stoppage time. Hearts were otherwise untroubled as the minutes passed. “We shall not be moved” has become the favoured chant at the stadium. It's hard to ignore the excitement.
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