Celtic seal title with victory at 10 man hearts - Legit Reporters

Celtic seal title with victory at 10 man hearts - Legit Reporters

Celtic seal title with victory at 10 man hearts - Legit Reporters

Celtic clinched their second successive Scottish Premiership title under Ange Postecoglou as Kyogo Furuhashi's 30th goal of the season helped overcome stubborn 10-man Hearts at Tynecastle.

The visitors were out of sorts and second best until the stroke of half-time when Alex Cochrane's yellow card for a foul on Daizen Maeda was upgraded to red following Video Assistant Referee intervention.

Kyogo made the breakthrough and sparked jubilation among the away support with his 50th Celtic goal before substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu steered in a second to ensure the club's 11th title in 12 years

It is a 53rd league crown overall for Celtic and they can complete a fifth treble in seven seasons with victory over second-tier Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup final on 3 June.

While fourth-place Hearts were incensed by Cochrane's controversial dismissal, Celtic lapped up the celebrations of a title triumph that comes with four games to spare and has been a formality for weeks if not months.

On the weekend of the king's coronation, Celtic were unable to deliver a majestic performance but got the job done at a venue where Postecoglou's league tenure began with a 2-1 defeat two years ago. His side have come a long way since then.

Hearts had plenty on the line in this one, too - third place guarantees European group-stage football and a £3m bounty - but their impressive first-half display culminated in a hugely controversial turning point.

Maeda latched on to Anthony Ralston's pass over the top and was clipped by Cochrane a few yards outside the corner of the penalty box, with Kye Rowles in the vicinity as he raced back to cover.

Nick Walsh initially flashed the yellow card, only to upgrade it to red after being advised by VAR official Willie Collum to take a second look.

Home fans erupted in fury and Celtic almost rubbed salt in their wounds from the resultant free-kick as Carl Starfelt stabbed in, but Ralston was offside in providing the knockdown.

As derision rained down at the officials, Celtic winger Jota tried to keep the ball in play on the flank and sent Hearts manager Steven Naismith flying. Postecoglou saw the funny side as he jokingly signalled for VAR.

Hearts had been the better side before the interval, knocking Celtic off their stride with a high-pressing and aggressive approach. Rowles rattled a skidding shot inches wide, and Lawrence Shankland had an early header tipped over before being flagged offside.

They failed to test Hart, though, and their task was turned on its head. Celtic emerged after the break looking to make their numerical advantage count, with Reo Hatate looping a volley just over the angle of post and bar.

Still, Celtic had not mustered a shot on target until the 67th minute when Callum McGregor picked out the run of Hatate, who squared for Kyogo to force the ball past Zander Clark for a landmark goal.

Kyogo picked up a knock in the process and soon departed. His replacement, Oh, capped the victory by steering the second from fellow sub Aaron Mooy's delivery to make it four domestic trophies out of five so far for Postecoglou.