The pressure had apparently been ramped up on Celtic with the launch of the second Ibrox Revolution of the season.
He spoke impressively, he has a certain presence, he even managed to get a goal out of Cyriel Dessers but Celtic didn’t flinch from the apparent threat caused by Philippe Clement.
A week of media drooling came to abrupt halt four minutes into the game at Tynecastle with a goal that wouldn’t look out of place in this week’s Champions League highlights package.
Luis Palma’s pass was as perfectly weighted as Matt O’Riley’s run deep into the Hearts penalty box but options were limited as the ball came over the midfielder’s shoulder.
The former MK Dons man made his Celtic debut at Tynecastle last January, this afternoon he applied a deft volley to send his shot beyond Zander Clark who had faced Kylian Mbappe in midweek.
That move and the execution set the tone for what was to come. Celtic played some exquisite football that their hosts had no answer to.
Everyone was involved, the Lennoxtown drills were obvious as some brilliant combinations were played to get out of what appeared awkward positions, leaving the Hearts players as demoralised as their fans, watching in near silence as their heroes got the runaround.
🍀 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
O’Riley was involved in the second goal, sending Reo Hatate deep into the box with Daizen Maeda bundling the ball into the net from inside the six yard box.
Hatate blotted his copybook with a penalty miss almost straight from the restart but in the 51st minute he was heavily involved with Palma as Kyogo Furuhashi smashed in his customary goal against the Edinburgh side.
There was some sloppy passing from the visitors in the second half, Lawrence Shankland pulled a goal back in the 64th minute but it was the hoops that always looked the most likely to add to the scoreline.
Tomoki Iwata supplied the fourth and final goal of the day for the visitors, after Oh Hyeon-gyu had twice saw his efforts blocked the ball fell to the midfielder who slammed the ball high against the underside of the crossbar and into the net for his first Celtic goal.
In midweek Celtic host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, on Saturday they return to Edinburgh knowing another win will send them 10 points clear at the top of the SPFL Premiership.
🚨🎥 Unique Angle O’Clock ⏰
All four goals from our pitchside camera at Tynecastle as Celtic were talk of the town in the Capital! 🔥
Watch the game back in full NOW on #CelticTV ⤵️https://t.co/OEkbxxC5SE#HEACEL | @CelticFC | #COYBIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/Eu91So4XpG
— Celtic TV (@CelticTV) October 22, 2023
