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The dominant Edinburgh side powered eight ahead of their Glasgow rivals at the top of the Scottish Premiership to strengthen their early-season title credentials and worsen the malaise around the Celtic team.

A superb goal from Kyziridis and Lawrence Shankland's penalty gave the Hearts team a 3-1 lead that the title holders could not recover from.

The young defender - among three youth players in the Celtic starting lineup - slashed into his own net in the early stages to put Hearts ahead at a bouncing Tynecastle, and it was the 22-year-old's foul that led to the spot-kick.

A stylish finish from McGregor of the season had quickly cancelled out the first goal, and the Swedish attacker almost put Celtic in front, choosing placement over power and allowing the Hearts keeper to save from close range.

But Derek McInnes' irrepressible Hearts regained dominance to hand the visitors to successive league defeats for the initial occasion since 2023.

It also gives the Edinburgh side a commanding advantage at the summit.

The last time they were this far ahead was in 2005-06 under George Burley, when they ultimately finished second - one of just four occasions that a team has failed to win the title having held such a lead in the last three decades.

The Hearts coach, whose Aberdeen side were second to Celtic on four occasions, has been working hard to play down title talk, as the club seek their first top-flight crown since the 1960s.

Rodgers has seen it all before at Celtic - both perfect and shaky beginnings to a season. He's never ended as runner-up.

But on the weekend's performance, this Edinburgh outfit showed they need to be taken seriously.

Match Analysis: Hearts Take Advantage of Weakened Celtic

The Edinburgh side started with the self-assurance of a side unbeaten in the league this season - the popular attacker poked a cross in for Shankland to stab wide.

Celtic didn't aid their cause with some unusual sloppiness in possession and they faltered under their first real examination.

Claudio Braga's header was tipped onto the woodwork by the Celtic keeper and Shankland's return ball was turned into the net by the hapless defender, in for the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The away side found their rhythm and started stringing passes together. From one such move, the midfielder released the full-back to set up the captain, who rolled in.

Apart from the Nygren chance, the visitors struggled to create much for lone frontman Jonny Kenny or his replacement Shin Yamada amid the unavailability of injured forwards their key strikers.

The home team regained their intensity and adaptability in attacking from across the final third. Kyziridis, one of the finds of the club's scouting network, fired a low shot past the goalkeeper from the edge of the box.

Almost straight away, Murray fouled the midfielder in the inside right channel and Shankland converted. And it could've been an even more handsome win, had replacement Ageu not been stopped by Schmeichel.

Celtic's second half was somewhat summed up in two incidents involving big-money recruit Engles.

The midfielder's wayward free-kick delivery was in sharp opposition to his midweek exploits in the continental victory over their Austrian opponents and the national team player was then yellow-carded for a professional foul.

What They Said

The Hearts manager: "You see how hard the players work, the togetherness. That's not always enough to win games consistently.

"Our strength lies in, is skillful players. You're witnessing it from a lot of players who have been here previously. Some of the new signings are eager to show that.

"We're in a positive moment at the minute, but it's only three points. It's important for us to maintain this form. We've got much work ahead, plenty to improve. After the first two rounds is normally an indication of your standing."

The Celtic boss: "The second goal was disappointing from our perspective. We failed to push up when the ball went back as a defensive unit so when they play it, they should have players offside but didn't. We have got to do better with the shot.

"There's still so many points to play for. It's still so early. It's just nine matches. Clearly, being eight adrift is not what we would want. The comfort is there's so many games to play.

"Our attention must turn on the present and look to find more consistency and better performance in our play."

Upcoming Fixtures for These Teams?

Celtic are back at home on midweek against newly-promoted Falkirk (19:45 GMT). At the same time in the top division, the Edinburgh outfit are at St Mirren.

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