Celtic’s bid to regain the league title from champions Rangers got off to a nightmare-like start on Saturday night, after slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle.
The newly-marketed hosts stunned Hoops after just eight minutes, when Gary Mackay-Steven knocked home to round off a good work from Liam Boyce.
GOAL | Hearts 1-0 Celtic @ JamTarts marks their return to the Premier League with a bang when Gary Mackay-Steven opens the scoring against his former club at Tynecastle!
? Watch it live now on Sky Sports Football pic.twitter.com/SroS4w913Y
– Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) July 31, 2021
Celtic pressed to draw evenly, with David Turnbull coming close on a number of occasions, but he failed to test goalkeeper Craig Gordon, and the visitors went into the break after a goal.
Bhoysna did not have to wait long after the break at half time before they found a murderous answer, when Anthony Ralston danced through the Hearts defense with a brilliant, smooth footwork and calmly hit the ball home from inside the box.
Liel Abada then had the ball in the net for Celtic, but his strike was ruled out for a very tight offside call. Hearts were cozy in the second half, and Gordon had to be at his best to deny substitute Ryan Christie.
And Celtic had to pay for their waste in front of goal, when defender John Souttar “jumped like a valued salmon” – according to Hearts’ official Twitter account – to keep a looping header beyond Scott Bain and back in the net.
The hosts looked out for the final minutes of injury time to claim a famous victory when they returned to the SPL, while sinking their opponents to a terrible defeat.
This disastrous result only exacerbates the misery of the fans, after Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League in the second qualifying round by FC Midtjylland, which means that they will have to watch the elite competition from the side for another year.
New coach Ange Postecoglou’s reign could not have gotten off to a worse start then, as he aims to beat Steven Gerrards Rangers from their newfound perch at the top of Scottish football.
