Celtic demolish Hearts 7-1 to move four points clear at Scottish Premiership summit

Celtic crushed Hearts 7-1 at Parkhead on Sunday, moving four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after Rangers were held at Dundee the previous day.

Callum Osmand scored twice in two first-half minutes to continue his rich vein of form against Hearts — his goal had sealed Celtic’s last-gasp title success against the Edinburgh side earlier in the season. Benjamin Nygren also netted twice, while Kieran Tierney, Camilo Duran, and an own goal from Jamie McCart completed a devastating afternoon for the visitors.

Celtic were two goals up inside ten minutes, with both Tierney and Nygren converting from corners delivered by Mika Baur. The set-piece threat was no coincidence: Celtic recruited dead-ball specialist Ross Grant from the Hearts coaching staff in the summer, having ranked in the bottom half of the Premiership with just ten set-piece goals the previous season, compared to Hearts’ league-leading 23.

Hearts arrived in Glasgow as the division’s top scorers and with the chance to close to within two points of the leaders, but the gulf in quality was stark. Wouter Vrancken’s side produced 20 shots, with Laurent Mendy pulling one back from 20 yards in the 41st minute, yet Celtic were far superior in the final third and benefited from some extremely slack defending.

Osmand’s opener came after Duran capitalised on a loose pass from Hearts midfielder Sabri Guendouz, teeing up the 20-year-old former Fulham forward to slot home. His second arrived moments later when Duran’s pressing on the halfway line won possession and the Colombian scooped the ball through for Osmand to nod over the line.

Duran added a sixth goal four minutes after the restart before Nygren rounded off the scoring to complete a 7-1 rout that underlines Celtic’s dominance at the top of the table under Martin O’Neill.