Hearts handed new Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy a nightmare debut in the dugout as goals from Claudio Braga and Oisin McEntee kept the league leaders top of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 win at Celtic Park.
Nancy's side dominated possession and territory against Derek McInnes' out-of-form side, but after interim boss Martin O'Neill had clawed back an eight-point deficit to the top, Celtic handed the initiative back to the Hearts with a largely toothless performance.
Alexander Schwolow had a mostly straightforward afternoon in the Hearts goal and after being grateful to see Daezan Maeda miss an early sitter, had little else to worry him until the final minutes, when he denied an Arne Engels header and picked Kieran Tierney's late consolation out of the back of his net in stoppage time.
Nancy looked to put an early stamp on his Celtic reign by changing to a back three in his first game, but it proved ineffective as the visitors picked the perfect moments to strike in either half to earn just a second win at Celtic Park since 2009.
The new boss will have been particularly frustrated to see his side switch off moments before half-time ahead of Braga's opener as they waited for an offside flag which never came, only for a VAR review to punish them after finding the forward had been played on by Arne Engels.
He had called for a performance of intensity and personality which never materialised, and despite a brief rally at the start of the second period Celtic again lost concentration as McEntee's header from Harry Milne's corner doubled the lead just after the hour.
Celtic finally rallied in the final 10 minutes as Reo Hatate rattled the crossbar after Engels saw a header saved, but by the time Tierney's strike reduced the deficit in front of a half-empty Celtic Park, there was barely a minute of added time remaining - and Hearts had little trouble seeing out a crucial victory to go three points clear at the top of the table.
More to follow...
vuaabdipu
0
And my fear came true We blew our chance to win the record-breaking 56th premiership title The board needs to leave Hiring the clueless Nancy is a mistake, and we Celtic fans are suffering due to the bad decision by the board