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Rampant Hearts surged eight ahead of their Glasgow rivals at the summit of the Scottish Premiership to strengthen their early title credentials and worsen the struggles around the Celtic team.

Alexandros Kyziridis' fine strike and Lawrence Shankland's penalty gave Derek McInnes' side a two-goal advantage that the title holders could not recover from.

The young defender - among three youth players in the Celtic starting lineup - scored an own goal 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 penalty.

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 Alexander Schwolow to save from close range.

But the unstoppable Hearts side seized control again to hand Celtic to back-to-back losses for the first time since last year.

It also gives the Hearts a commanding advantage at the summit.

The last time they were so far clear was in 2005-06 under George Burley, when they ended as runners-up - a rare instance that a team has not secured the title after building such an advantage in the past 27 years.

The Hearts coach, whose former team were second to Celtic on multiple times, has been working hard to downplay title talk, as the club seek their maiden league title since the 1960s.

Rodgers has seen it all before at the club - both flawless and stuttering starts to a season. He's never ended as runner-up.

But on the weekend's performance, this Hearts team showed they deserve serious consideration.

Match Analysis: Hearts Capitalize of Weakened The Visitors

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 help themselves with some uncharacteristic carelessness in possession and they buckled under their first real examination.

Claudio Braga's header was touched on to a post by Kasper Schmeichel and Shankland's return ball was turned into the net by the hapless defender, in for the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The away side grew into the contest and started stringing passes together. From one such move, Sebastian Tounekti released Tierney to set up McGregor, who rolled in.

Apart from the Nygren chance, the visitors found it hard to generate chances for striker Kenny or his replacement Shin Yamada amid the absence of stricken attackers their key strikers.

The home team regained their intensity and versatility in attacking from across the final third. The Greek forward, a standout performer of the club's relationship with shareholder Tony Bloom's Jamestown Analytics, struck low past Schmeichel from the just outside the area.

Almost straight away, Murray tripped Braga in the right side of the box and Shankland scored. And it could've been an more comprehensive victory, had replacement Ageu not been denied by Schmeichel.

Celtic's second half was partially encapsulated in two incidents involving record signing Arne Engles.

The midfielder's wayward free-kick delivery was in sharp opposition to his European display in the Europa League win over Sturm Graz and the Belgium international was then booked 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 week in, week out.

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

"We've got a good thing going at the minute, but it's only three points. It's important for us to keep winning. We've got loads to do, loads to do. After the first two rounds is normally an indication of your standing."

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "The second goal was disappointing from our perspective. We failed to push up when the ball went back as a line so when they pass the ball, they should have players offside but weren't. We have got to do better with the shot.

"There's still so many points to play for. It's only the beginning. It's only nine games in. Clearly, being eight points behind is not ideal. The comfort is there's so many games to play.

"We now have to focus on the here and now and look to find more consistency and better performance in our play."

What's Next for Both Sides?

The Glasgow club are back at home on Wednesday against promoted side Falkirk (evening kick-off). At the same time in the Scottish Premiership, Hearts are at St Mirren.

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