Celtic move five points clear of Rangers after win over spirited Hearts | Football

Celtic recovered from a slow start to beat Hearts 2-0 at Tynecastle and move five points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Ryan Christie netted in the 28th minute with Celtic’s first effort on target and Olivier Ntcham swept home 12 minutes later after a flurry of chances. Rangers have a game in hand but the cushion potentially gives Celtic the platform to go further clear before the winter break with the top two meeting on 29 December.

Celtic’s manager Neil Lennon, whose side host Aberdeen on Saturday, was delighted with the win. He said: “It gives them a couple of days’ rest and we look forward to a difficult game at the weekend. And it puts pressure on the rest of the teams around us to win their games. I can’t ask any more.

“That’s what we set out to do – win the game, and we’ve done that with a bit of style as well. I was so pleased with a lot of the performances. More importantly the manner we approached the game because we knew Hearts would be up and at it, and they were. So we saw that off and once the game opened up we were very, very good.”

New Hearts manager, Daniel Stendel, made five changes and got the effort and fight he had demanded as Hearts started on the front foot, turning the Celtic defence whenever they had the chance. It was pretty basic stuff but the long-suffering home fans roared their approval and Oli Bozanic managed a couple of decent efforts – a low shot that Fraser Forster held and a header which glanced not far wide. The Australian also squandered some set-pieces and Hearts found themselves behind against the run of play.

James Forrest played a one-two with Odsonne Edouard to put Hearts on the back foot before Christie took over and drilled a 20-yard strike just inside the post. Forrest had drifted inside limping right-back Brandon and Stendel swapped him for Sean Clare, who was booed on by a small section of the home fans. Hearts were exposed again moments later when Scott Brown won the ball and released Forrest, whose low cross from the left was swept home first time by Ntcham.

Stendel replaced Bozanic with Glenn Whelan at half-time and his team rediscovered their early impetus with Clare coming close after a positive run into the box. Hearts also delivered some decent balls into the box but they were living dangerously at the back. McGregor was flagged offside after netting from close range and Edouard headed against a post before forcing a good save from Pereira after being left unmarked from a free-kick.

Stendel was forced into another change on the hour mark when Mulraney limped off and Pereira came to the hosts’ rescue again after Forrest played in McGregor. Hearts rallied and pushed Celtic back for much of the final quarter without troubling Forster.

“It was hard to accept being 1-0 down with their first shot on goal but that’s what happens when you make mistakes against a team with the quality of Celtic,” said Stendel. “The reaction was good, especially in the second half, we not only defended our goal, we tried to play on the front foot. I think we deserved to score a goal, but Celtic deserved to win. But we gave all we could give in terms of fight and mentality. It was a good feeling, especially for me, that we can have so much support from the fans.”