Leaders Celtic eventually triumphed over a depleted Hearts in a gripping Scottish Premiership match at a heaving Tynecastle where VAR took centre stage.
Two goals from Lawrence Shankland – one from the spot after Scottish football’s first on-field review – had Hearts ahead following James Forrest’s opener.
Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda turned the game back in Celtic’s favour and, although Shankland completed his hat-trick from the spot after a VAR-influenced re-take, Greg Taylor slid in to grab the winner for the champions.
At full-time it was sheer relief for Celtic, who were pushed all the way throughout the 90 minutes, as Ange Postecoglou’s side moved five points clear of Rangers, who play Livingston at 15:00 BST on Saturday.
“It was a cracking game with a bit of everything,” Postecoglou said. “There was a lot going on out there – it would have been easy to resign ourselves and think it wasn’t our day – but once again, they found a way.”
Hearts stay seventh but produced their best performance of the season as, despite missing a clutch of defenders, they went toe-to-toe with the league leaders, who had scored 10 times in their last two games.
They were unfortunate to fall behind when Tony Ralston’s cross was deflected into the path of Forrest to head home his fourth goal in two matches, after Barrie McKay and Robert Snodgrass had passed up good chances.
But Hearts did haul themselves level before the break. Cameron Carter-Vickers brought down Cammy Devlin in the box and, after being sent to the monitor to review the tackle, referee Nick Walsh overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty.
Substitute Shankland drilled the ball into the net, and did so again a minute after the restart after Josh Ginnelly got the better of Alexandro Bernabei to flash a brilliant ball across the six-yard box.
Celtic boss Postecoglou was bemused at the decision not to award his side a spot kick for Michael Smith’s handball in the box at 1-1, but after falling behind his side upped the tempo.
Giakoumakis escaped the clutches of several Hearts players to head in from Aaron Mooy’s corner, and then Maeda reacted quickest when the Australian’s shot was parried out by goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
The drama was far from finished, though. Devlin was once again racing into the Celtic box when Moritz Jenz – who a avoided a second yellow card – clattered him in attempting to clear the ball, and this time Walsh gave the penalty immediately.
Shankland’s penalty was saved by Joe Hart, but Ginnelly was able to turn the rebound home for what he thought was the equaliser.
But a VAR check found that Ginnelly and two Celtic players had encroached, which meant Shankland was forced to re-take, and this time he beat Hart to haul Hearts level at 3-3.
All of that came in a pulsating first 65 minutes, as both sides slugged it out for the final quarter of a fantastic contest.
But it was Celtic who found the crucial moment. Mooy was involved again for the visitors, as his pass found Liel Abada, whose deflected cross fell for a lunging Taylor to net the winner.
There was barely time to draw breath in the final 20 minutes, but Celtic were able to see out victory as they showed fantastic perseverance for the second time in a fortnight.
“I don’t get all that ‘well done, pat on the back, you did well’,” said Neilson. “We didn’t take any points. We want to be winning these games. We had Celtic rattled. We should have got ourselves over the line after scoring three goals.
Player of the match – Cammy Devlin
Brave Hearts fall short as Taylor shines – analysis
It’s hard to analyse such a frenetic, and frankly ridiculous, 90 minutes. Hearts were magnificent, which was epitomised by Devlin’s fight and quality in midfield.
Missing their first-choice defence means they were always going to be vulnerable, and that’s now two clean sheets in 18 games this season, but they compensated by having a go. Losing Stephen Humphrys to injury is another blow, though.
As for Celtic, they showed guts to come back amid the drama. Taylor deserves a special mention after coming off the bench to replace the struggling Bernabei.
He roared forward, demanded the ball and ended up scoring the winner. He’s been fantastic this season. Another of Scotland’s collection of excellent left-backs.
What they said
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: “I was proud of the players but massively disappointed with the outcome. Celtic didn’t need to work hard for their goals. We defended brilliantly but gave away four slack goals.
“There were some positives, some negatives with VAR. There’s work to be done to get it ironed out. The first penalty is a stonewaller and doesn’t get given and we play for three-four minutes. We all know it’s a penalty.”
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: “I know VAR is there for the big decisions but you’d think they’d get to them a bit earlier. I thought we had a clear handball, but what do I know? You just let it go.
“There’s a lot of standing about, a lot of theatre. I’m not a fan of it. If that’s the kind of drama you want, there’s probably a good movie playing at the cinema tomorrow. You can sit down, get your popcorn and watch it. I like to watch football.”
What’s next?
Celtic host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday (20:00 BST) before visiting Livingston in the league next Sunday. Hearts face RFS in the Conference League at Tynecastle (20:00) and then travel to take on Ross County on Sunday.
Line-ups
Hearts
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1Gordon
- 2SmithSubstituted forHallidayat 84′minutes
- 21SibbickBooked at 55mins
- 3Kingsley
- 19Cochrane
- 14Devlin
- 30GinnellySubstituted forForrestat 69′minutes
- 8KiomourtzoglouSubstituted forSmithat 85′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 77Snodgrass
- 18McKay
- 29HumphrysSubstituted forShanklandat 39′minutes
Substitutes
- 7Grant
- 9Shankland
- 13Stewart
- 16Halliday
- 17Forrest
- 20Neilson
- 22Henderson
- 27Smith
- 28Clark
Celtic
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Hart
- 56Ralston
- 20Carter-Vickers
- 6JenzBooked at 41mins
- 25BernabeiSubstituted forTaylorat 66′minutes
- 13Mooy
- 33O’Riley
- 41HatateSubstituted forAbildgaardat 90+2′minutes
- 49ForrestSubstituted forAbadaat 66′minutes
- 7Giakoumakis
- 38MaedaSubstituted forHaksabanovicat 66′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Taylor
- 8Furuhashi
- 9Haksabanovic
- 11Abada
- 16McCarthy
- 28Abildgaard
- 30Ideguchi
- 31Siegrist
- 88Juranovic
- Referee:
- Nick Walsh
- Attendance:
- 18,081
Match Stats
Live Text
-
Match ends, Heart of Midlothian 3, Celtic 4.
-
Second Half ends, Heart of Midlothian 3, Celtic 4.
-
Offside, Celtic. Joe Hart tries a through ball, but Liel Abada is caught offside.
-
Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
-
Liel Abada (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian).
-
Offside, Celtic. Sead Haksabanovic tries a through ball, but Liel Abada is caught offside.
-
Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).
-
Alex Cochrane (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).
-
Stephen Kingsley (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Substitution, Celtic. Oliver Abildgaard replaces Reo Hatate.
-
Foul by Matt O’Riley (Celtic).
-
Connor Smith (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).
-
Cameron Devlin (Heart of Midlothian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
-
Attempt saved. Liel Abada (Celtic) right footed shot from very close range is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Sead Haksabanovic.
-
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Craig Gordon.
-
Attempt blocked. Alan Forrest (Heart of Midlothian) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
-
Substitution, Heart of Midlothian. Connor Smith replaces Orestis Kiomourtzoglou.
Player of the match
HartJoe Hart
Heart of Midlothian
-
Squad number9Player nameShankland
Average rating7.27
-
Squad number14Player nameDevlin
Average rating6.27
-
Squad number1Player nameGordon
Average rating6.14
-
Squad number30Player nameGinnelly
Average rating5.91
-
Squad number3Player nameKingsley
Average rating5.86
-
Squad number19Player nameCochrane
Average rating5.84
-
Squad number77Player nameSnodgrass
Average rating5.80
-
Squad number2Player nameSmith
Average rating5.52
-
Squad number8Player nameKiomourtzoglou
Average rating5.39
-
Squad number29Player nameHumphrys
Average rating5.37
-
Squad number18Player nameMcKay
Average rating5.28
-
Squad number21Player nameSibbick
Average rating5.27
-
Squad number17Player nameForrest
Average rating4.91
-
Squad number27Player nameSmith
Average rating4.76
-
Squad number16Player nameHalliday
Average rating4.54
Celtic
-
Squad number1Player nameHart
Average rating7.42
-
Squad number3Player nameTaylor
Average rating7.26
-
Squad number7Player nameGiakoumakis
Average rating7.14
-
Squad number41Player nameHatate
Average rating7.08
-
Squad number49Player nameForrest
Average rating7.01
-
Squad number20Player nameCarter-Vickers
Average rating6.92
-
Squad number38Player nameMaeda
Average rating6.83
-
Squad number9Player nameHaksabanovic
Average rating6.83
-
Squad number11Player nameAbada
Average rating6.66
-
Squad number13Player nameMooy
Average rating6.62
-
Squad number33Player nameO’Riley
Average rating6.62
-
Squad number6Player nameJenz
Average rating6.39
-
Squad number25Player nameBernabei
Average rating5.77
-
Squad number28Player nameAbildgaard
Average rating5.54
-
Squad number56Player nameRalston
Average rating3.82