Celtic inflict 7-1 humiliation on Hearts to seize control of title race

Callum Osmand was on target again as Celtic inflicted more misery on Hearts with a 7-1 thrashing at Parkhead, sending Martin O'Neill's side four points clear of Rangers, who were held at Dundee on Saturday.

The Hoops were two up inside 10 minutes after Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren both scored from Mika Baur corners, and the latter had the William Hill Premiership champions 5-1 up at the interval after forcing an own goal from Jamie McCart.

Osmand netted twice in two first-half minutes in the first meeting of the teams since his goal sealed Celtic's last-gasp title success at the expense of the Edinburgh side. The 20-year-old slotted home his first goal of the season in the 36th minute after collecting a slack pass from Sabri Guendouz, with Camilo Duran the provider. His second came from Duran's pressing on the halfway line, the Colombian scooping the ball up for the former Fulham player to nod over the line after his own shot was saved.

Duran piled on the agony with a goal four minutes after the restart and Nygren rounded off the scoring to complete the rout. Nygren, who had registered four goals and three assists in eight Premiership appearances this season ahead of the match (FotMob snapshot, 18 October 2026), finished high into the net in the 83rd minute after being fed by substitute Kasper Hogh, prompting another airing of the Magnificent Seven theme tune at Celtic Park.

Hearts' defensive frailties exposed

Hearts had arrived in Glasgow as the division's top goalscorers and with the opportunity to move two points behind the leaders. They produced 20 shots at goal, one of which found the net from Laurent Mendy, but Celtic were far superior in the final third and benefited from some extremely slack defending.

Wouter Vrancken's side were always up against it after the hosts capitalised on Baur's seventh-minute corner. Liam Scales glanced Baur's delivery into the goalmouth, where the unmarked Tierney nodded home. Hearts got first contact on Baur's next corner but Dane Murray hooked the second ball into the path of Nygren, who cushioned a volley in off a post.

Both sides had chances for the third goal. Home goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo saved from Guendouz and Claudio Braga, while McCart's free header drifted just wide. Celtic winger Haissem Hassan hit a post and set up Nygren, who was denied by Beau Reus, before Osmand's opener.

Some Hearts fans headed for the exit and missed Mendy sweeping the ball into the corner of the net from 20 yards in the 41st minute after being teed up by Josh McPake, who was generally marshalled superbly by Colby Donovan. Duran came close before Baur rounded off an incredible first half when he ghosted past two players and dinked the ball over Reus, with Stephen Kingsley only able to knock the ball in off team-mate McCart.

Celtic opened their visitors up again just after the interval when Tierney ran unchallenged to set up Duran to finish first time. The tempo dipped but the home fans were treated to some virtuoso wing play from half-time substitute Jota before Nygren's late strike.

Set-piece overhaul pays off

The champions recruited set-piece specialist Ross Grant from the Tynecastle coaching team in the summer after Hearts led the way in the league with 23 goals from dead-ball situations. Celtic were in the bottom half of the table with 10. That emphasis appeared to pay dividends as Tierney and Nygren both profited from Baur corners inside the opening 10 minutes.

The result leaves Celtic four points clear at the summit, with Rangers having been held at Dundee a day earlier. As reported on 17 October 2026, Rangers had eyed top spot with a win at Dens Park, but the draw kept O'Neill's Celtic in command of the Scottish Premiership title race.