Robbie Neilson gave some of his star turns a rest – but the Jambo stand-ins still made Celtic sweat for the points to send the champions clear at the top of the Premiership.
Kyogo struck early but it took until stoppage time – when Hearts were down to NINE men – for the result to be put to bed by Giorgos Giakoumakis. Celtic up and running early on against a Jambos side missing several big names ahead of Thursday’s Europa League play-off second leg showdown with Zurich in Gorgie.
But the stand-ins managed to soak up the pressure from the champions most of the afternoon and it made it a hard shift. It was a dominant display just missing more of a cutting edge in the final third – but Neilson will have been happy enough with the performance and the cotton wool job with some of his stars as they look to overturn Zurich’s 2-1 first leg lead.
