The winners of a breathless, brooding contest at Tynecastle were the team playing 50 miles away. Rangers moved to within four points of Hearts after the league leaders missed the chance to put considerable distance between themselves and Celtic. A three-horse race for the title should enthral.
A contender must land a convincing blow to dethrone a champion but despite equalising twice, facing 10 men for the final 21 minutes and creating several clearcut openings, Hearts were unable to overcome Martin O’Neill’s tiring team. Celtic impressed sporadically but made their flashes of quality count through Benjamin Nygren’s free-kick and the incisive break that created a second for Yang Hyun-jun.
The visitors’ vulnerability at set pieces was punished by Stuart Findlay and Cláudio Braga. Blair Spittal, on as a substitute, almost won it for Derek McInnes’s team in the 97th minute, 20 minutes after Auston Trusty had been sent off, but his rising drive kissed the top of the Celtic crossbar.
“It’s not the worst point when you come from behind twice but I still feel there was something more out there for us,” the Hearts manager said. “The fact there’s a disappointed dressing room in there illustrates how far we’ve come.”
Danny Röhl, the Rangers manager, felt "great" following the "statement" 3-0 win against Dundee which narrowed the gap on Hearts, the Scottish Premiership leaders, to four points.
James Tavernier, the Rangers captain, scored from the spot early in the second half before the substitutes Danilo and Djeidi Gassama added further goals in stoppage time for an eighth successive win in all competitions.
Hearts' 2-2 draw with Celtic at Tynecastle meant that Rangers leapfrogged their Glasgow rivals to sit behind the Jambos as the title race heats up.
Röhl said: "Yeah, it feels great, but hopefully the feeling will be better and better during the second half of the season because there is still a long way to go. We know this.
"I know at Rangers the demand is high to get a lot of wins. But for me, it's also eight wins in a row. It's a statement, especially from the point we were at. And if you can continue this and you do your homework and you go again, then yeah, it's on.
"We knew before the game, it's not an easy one. Everyone expected us to win. Then you face an opponent who are on a small run. They're well organised, you have to break them down first.
"In the first half, we tried but in some moments we had too many players behind the ball instead of in the right areas. This was the topic at half-time. Then you come out fantastic, make the goal, then you have two or three good moments so you can score for 2-0 or 3-0 and then in some transition moments we were not clinical, we lose the ball, and we were a little bit too open.
"But finally, then the 3-0, for me, is a statement as well." PA Media
The roar that reverberated around Tynecastle at kick-off screamed volumes about the importance of the fixture. But the occasion appeared initially to get to Hearts, whose approach was too forced and too rushed. Cooler heads eventually improved the home team’s performance.
There were debutants on both sides with the Birmingham loanee Marc Leonard starting in central midfield for Hearts and Tomas Cvancara, the towering Czech forward signed on an initial loan from Borussia Moenchengladbach, leading the line for Celtic.
Leonard’s influence grew after a difficult start in which he dragged Nygren to the ground just outside the area. Nygren took the free-kick and swept a powerful shot past Craig Gordon. McInnes took exception to something said during the celebrations that followed in front of the Celtic bench and he had to be pushed back by the fourth official. The assistant managers Paul Sheerin and Shaun Maloney had a tête-à-tête later, too. “It was nothing to do with Martin or Shaun,” McInnes said. “One of their inexperienced coaches got a bit carried away and that’s all I’m going to say.”
Hearts could have levelled almost immediately when Braga broke into the Celtic area but he shot tamely at Kasper Schmeichel. An ineffective display in front of goal was under way for the hosts. Alexandros Kyziridis should have equalised when a defensive howler by Trusty put him clean through on Schmeichel’s goal. The winger had to score but the Dane stood tall and made a crucial save with his leg.
Kyziridis missed another excellent chance in the second half, taking an eternity to size up a shot inside the area and enabling Liam Scales to intercept. Hearts were level by then.
Leonard delivered a corner to the back post where Findlay rose above two Celtic players to bury a header past Schmeichel. Celtic had shown little in the final third following their early lead but burst into life when Cvancara headed against the bar and then led a break down the left. Having sprinted clear of Craig Halkett, the striker rolled a perfect cross along the face of goal for Yang to convert from close range.
Plenty of spice was added to the mix. Cvancara was booked for needlessly barging into Leonard. The on-loan midfielder then dissected the Celtic defence to release Pierre Landry Kaboré, who was hauled to the ground by Trusty. The referee, Steven McLean, enraged Tynecastle by initially showing only a yellow card to the Celtic centre-half, presumably on the basis the Hearts striker was running away from goal. McLean was advised to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and he returned with a red card in his hand. Trusty was on his way to the tunnel by the time it was brandished.
Celtic played for almost an hour with 10 men in Bologna on Thursday. Hearts tested their energy levels to the limit. Braga somehow failed to beat Schmeichel from point-blank range when Sabah Kerjota’s cross landed at his feet but made amends with four minutes of normal time remaining.
A set piece was again Celtic’s undoing, this time a free‑kick sent deep into the box by Harry Milne. Oisin McEntee headed down perfectly for Braga to lash home through a crowded area.
McInnes was relaxed about the title race. “We are confident and enjoying where we are,” he said. “But we are well aware that some big clubs are desperate to be where we are and so we have to keep improving.”
O’Neill’s take was equally pragmatic. “We knew at one minute to three today that we had a tough time and we still have a tough time because another game has gone past, but we’re still in it.”
