Celtic took to the field at Tynecastle on Sunday afternoon with their closest rivals having closed the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership by three points, following their victory over Hibs. Many thought this would bring added pressure to a fixture which is always throwing up difficult circumstances and an atmosphere that is hostile whenever the Hoops are in town.
The Bhoys wasted no time in assuaging any fears there might have been pre-match about the possible destination of the three points and struck early doors thanks to a beautifully worked goal by Matt O’Riley. That early goal inside five minutes at a ground that tradionally gives us headaches, was to set the tone for what was to come; a complete and utter footballing lesson for the home side.
Hearts head coach, Steven Naismith, couldn’t even bring himself to acknowledge this fact after the game and preferred to go down the route of restarting an old narrative about Celtic’s Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi. The gall with which Brendan Rodgers and his team left Naismith feeling on Sunday afternoon, was sumptuous in the way it erroded any assumptions that the former Rangers player had about the condition of this Celtic team.
The Irishman watched from the sidelines as his well-drilled and fluid, free-flowing team tore Naismith and co. a new one. Delightful would be an understatement as we bobbed and weaved in and out of Lawrence Shankland and his forlorn teammates in the nation’s Capital. Daizen Maeda added a second after another well-worked move down the right-hand side culminated in Reo Hatate squaring the ball for his comrade to tuck away from close range. Not even the beloved VAR could turn the tide on this occasion.
After Reo Hatate missed another penalty – which will surely mean a new taker is chosen now – he more than made up for that error by starting another move that got Kyogo Furuhashi his 60th goal in a Celtic jersey. The flick on to Luis Palma was superb and when the Honduran got to the Hearts penatly box high and wide, he squared it for our most lethal attacker since Henrik Larsson to finish off no problem a few yards out.
Our fourth and final strike was by none other than Tomoki Iwata, who had arguably his best game yet in a Celtic shirt after coming off the bench to replace his countryman, Hatate. After penetrating the Hearts box with a spate of attacks, Oh Hyeon-gyu couldn’t find that goal that he’s so desperate for right now, but Iwata had no issues rattling home a thunderous strike which hit the crossbar en-route to the net, rounding off another Beautiful Sunday.
Enjoy the goals below…
🍀 Celtic cruised to a 4-1 win over Hearts to retake their seven-point lead at the top of the #cinchPrem table ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/w51azhooby
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) October 22, 2023
Paul Gillespie
