Celtic had two new signings to thank as they continued their 100% start to the campaign with a 2-0 victory over struggling Hearts at Celtic Park this afternoon.
Despite dominating large parts of the game, it took a 52nd minute penalty from £11million new boy Arne Engels to open the scoring, with the Belgian tapping home from 12-yards on his first start for the Hoops, before fellow new boy Luke McCowan fired home on the stroke of full time.
The new signing was Brendan Rodgers’ only change from the 3-0 win over Rangers, while Hearts boss Steven Naismith rang the changes for visitors, welcoming back Beni Baningime, Kye Rowles and Gerald Taylor to his starting XI in Glasgow.
Despite constant pressure from the Hoops, it was Hearts that were almost offered a shock chance to take the lead when they thought they had been awarded a penalty halfway through the first-half, when Colin Steven pointed to the spot after an alleged handball from Liam Scales, though VAR would later rule it out.
The home side would get a penalty of their own minutes into the second period though, when Steven was called to the monitor once again - this time awarding the spot-kick - and man of the moment Engels made no mistake from 12 yards out. A a lovely curled effort from McCowan doubled the lead and secured the Hoops place at the top of the Scottish Premiership, where they sit level on points with Aberdeen but +7 ahead on goal difference - and, crucially, eight points ahead of Rangers.
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21. CF: Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic) - 6
Missed a glorious opportunity early on and struggled to get in behind as Hearts sat deep. Did have one glorious opportunity saved superbly by Gordon, however. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group

22. CF: Kenneth Vargas (Hearts) - 6
Never stopped running but was unable to create any meaningful chances up top for his side. | SNS Group

23. Celtic substitutions
James Forrest - 6 (Was celebrated before the game after making his 500th Celtic appearance and supported the attack after replacing Kuhn). Paulo Bernardo - 6 (neat and tidy in the middle) Adam Idah - 6 (Offered a different option up top) Luke McCowan - 7 (a dream day for the new signing who sealed the win late on) Luis Palma - N/A (late sub) | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group

24. Hearts subs
Cammy Devlin 6 (tried to add bite to the midfield) Blair Spittal 5 (ineffective) Alan Forrest 5 (similar to Spittal, couldn't impact the game) Yan Dhanda 5 (didn't see enough of the ball) Musa Drammeh 5 (a late appearance) | SNS Group

