Hearts player ratings vs Celtic as Jambos hold Hoops in chaotic Tynecastle corker and Gorgie debutant assessed

Hearts drew 2-2 against Celtic in a hotly-contested clash at the top of the Premiership.

Benjamin Nygren netted early for Celtic from a free-kick and Claudio Braga missed an opportunity to level soon after. Alexandros Kyziridis couldn’t punish a Hoops error at the back before half-time but Stuart Findlay headed the league leaders back to parity just three minutes after the break. Yang then put Celtic back in front and Auston Trusty’s red card set the scene for a dramatic finish. Braga was denied Hearts’ second from close range but he wouldn’t be denied another from the same position with three minutes plus stoppages to play. The Jambos remain top of the league where their lead stands at four points after Rangers’ win over Dundee, while Celtic are kept six points adrift.

It didn’t come much bigger than this for McInnes and co. Win, and they go nine points clear, with Hoops boss Martin O’Neill admitting pre-match the current holders would find it a long way back were they to lose this one. Investor Tony Bloom sat in the stands to take this one and he would have been hoping to see his league title within a decade prediction take a big step forward, less than 12 months after casting his assertion.

A draw wouldn’t be a disaster but in any case, they would have to do it with three key men, with Beni Baningime, Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland all out. That didn’t stop the Tynecastle gaffer making big selection calls regardless as Craig Gordon was brought back in between the sticks ahead of Alexander Schwolow, who has been the number one in the league. Marc Leonard was immediately pitched in for his debut after a loan arrival from Birmingham City but it was his free-kick concession for a foul on Nygren that handed the Swede a chance to open scoring in spectacular fashion.

He curved the ball over the wall and past Gordon to quieten a boisterous Tynecastle crowd, who were beginning to grow frustrated. Crosses into the box without much end product was all Hearts could muster outside a good opening Braga, who got away from oncoming Celtic defenders, but his shot was straight at the otherwise untested keeper Kasper Schmeichel. That was until Trusty inexplicably played a pass straight into the feet of Kyziridis, with Schmeichel making a big save, the kind of chance that has to be converted in games of this magnitude.

Set pieces have been a dangerous outlet for Hearts this season and Findlay was again on the end of one. Leonard put in a perfect delivery to the backpost which the defender nodded home amid a ruck of bodies. That parity would not last long as debutant Hoops striker Tomas Cvancara hit the post before soon creating a chance that Yang managed to prod home. Drama would keep on coming with Trusty left flat footed in a race with Pierre Landry Kabore and VAR intervened to see the centre-back sent off, handing momentum to Hearts for the final quarter.

Schmeichel again came up trumps for Celtic as the ball broke to Braga inside the box and the Dane somehow made the save when he appeared to know little about it. Balls were being launched into the Hoops box and the forward eventually got the goal he deserved, another terrific Milne cross headed down by Oisin McEntee for the forward to batter home in a feisty game where it would have been easier to name who hadn’t been booked. Blair Spittal was inches from an incredible stoppage time leveller but a point will be of more value to Hearts than Celtic, who are kept a couple of games adrift, albeit with the Rangers threat growing as they close the gap some more. Here’s how we rated the Hearts players from the draw.