Hearts 0-2 Celtic

Celtic restored their lead at the top of the SPL table with a comfortable win over Hearts at Tynecastle.

Shaun Maloney opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a powerful volley from Andreas Hinkel's free-kick.

A goalmouth scramble in the 20th minute saw Gary Caldwell bundle the ball into the net from a Paul Hartley corner.

Marius Zaliukas was dismissed after 51 minutes for a rash challenge on Scott McDonald in the Hearts box, but Hartley hit the resulting penalty wide.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo made two changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Aberdeen last week with Deividas Cesnauskis replacing Saulius Mikoliunas and Andrew Driver coming in for Ruben Palazuelos.

Stephen McManus returned to the Celtic line-up, while midfielders Massimo Donati, Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady were consigned to the bench and in came Hartley, Barry Robson and striker Cillian Sheridan.

The match started at a furious pace with Celtic taking the lead in stunning fashion after just seven minutes when Michael Stewart fouled Robson out on the right and Hinkel delivered a searching free-kick.

Hearts keeper Janos Balogh punched clear, but Maloney struck a first-time volley with his right foot from the edge of the box that powered into the back of the net.

Hearts were jolted into action and Bruno Aguiar stepped up to deliver a free-kick in the 15th minute, but the Celtic wall held well and referee Craig Thompson waved away claims of handball.

Celtic doubled their lead in the 20th minute when a Hartley corner found McDonald's head on the six-yard line, but Balogh flapped the ball clear and a goalmouth scramble saw Caldwell poke the ball into the net.

Four minutes later, Driver's free-kick from the edge of the Celtic penalty area inched past Artur Boruc's left-hand post.

With 30 minutes played, Christian Nade broke past Caldwell down the left and flighted in a telling cross, but a scrappy Celtic defence managed to clear the danger.

Aguiar could have pulled one back for Hearts as half-time approached, but McManus blocked his shot from 20 yards out.

The frantic pace of the first-half continued after the break, with Aguiar striking the Celtic wall with a 30-yard free-kick in the opening minutes of the second-half.

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Shortly after the restart, Zaliukas was dismissed for a debatable challenge on McDonald inside the penalty area, but Hartley sent the resulting penalty wide of the mark.

Celtic's claims for a second penalty were turned down in the 67th minute when Christophe Berra appeared to fell Robson near the touchline.

With less than 10 minutes left to play, Driver fired in an outswinging corner, but McDonald managed to make a clearance.

Substitute Jamie Mole tried for goal with an optimistic low drive as the minutes ticked away, but Boruc gathered comfortably to keep a clean sheet for the first time away from home this season.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan:
"We came here with a team that was ready to deal with the game that was coming to us today, and we started off in first gear - we were right at it.

"It might not have been beautiful football, but in terms of making sure we didn't get beat and get at them, I thought we were fantastic.

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"It wasn't cosmic football, but it's a different style of game when you come here.

"When it gets down to 10 men, the game's dead, and we could come down a couple of gears, similar to what Man United did to us. When you get two or three goals up you can relax and be more comfortable."

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo:
"We must accept if somebody is better than your team and we accept this and know we must work to be good, but in the second-half it was very heavy to play 11 against 10.

"In the second-half, we tried to play football, but against a team like Celtic, if you play with 10 guys, it is not very easy to create chances.

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"I think at the moment, we must think about the next games and learn from this game against Celtic today, especially in the second half they dominated the game."

Hearts : Balogh, Jonsson, Zaliukas, Berra, Lee Wallace, Cesnauskis (Mikoliunas 35), Stewart, Karipidis, Aguiar (Palazuelos 79), Driver, Nade (Mole 59). Subs Not Used: MacDonald, Makela, Thomson, Ksanavicius.

Sent Off : Zaliukas (51).

Celtic : Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson, Maloney (McGeady 66), Scott Brown, Hartley, Robson (Donati 78), McDonald (McCourt 89), Sheridan. Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Nakamura, O'Dea, Caddis.

Booked : Hartley.

Goals : Maloney 7, Caldwell 20.

Att : 15,460

Ref : C Thompson

Taken from the BBC