Celtic returned from the international break and put in an emphatic and dominant display at Tynecastle to defeat Hearts 4-1 and continue their undefeated start to the league season.
First-half goals from Matt O’Riley and Dazien Maeda sent the Hoops on their way to three points, with Kyogo adding a third in the second-half shortly after Reo Hatate’s missed penalty.
The hosts did pull a goal back through Lawrence Shakland, but it was complete control for Celtic as Tomoki added a fourth late on to send the Hoops into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid seven points clear at the top of the table.
Celtic’s form at Tynecastle has been exemplary in recent seasons, with the most recent visit in May seeing the Hoops win the league title with a 2-0 win.
Five months on, Brendan Rodgers’ team looked to continue the winning streak in Gorgie and they got off to the best possible start through O’Riley’s stunning goal after four minutes.
In a week which saw O’Riley called up to the Denmark national team and lift the league’s Player of the Month award, the 22-year-old midfielder capped it off with his sixth goal of the campaign.
Racing into the box unmarked, Luis Palma picked out his run with a precise ball over the top of the Hearts defence and O’Riley watched the ball drop over his shoulder before hammering a volley into the bottom right corner.
Hearts had their only effort of the first-half 10 minutes later through Kenneth Vargas but his shot from a tight angle was easily saved by Joe Hart.
Five minutes later Daizen Maeda almost replicated his only goal of the season which came against Livingston as he cut in from the right and slammed a left-footed shot on goal, but Zander Clark pushed it away from the top right corner.
Maeda wouldn’t have to wait long to get his second of the campaign however as he doubled Celtic’s tally on the 23rd minute.
O’Riley drifted into space on the right and he found the underlapping run of Reo Hatate into the box, who in turn played the ball across goal for the Japanese striker who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net.
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