Celtic rout Hearts 7-1 at Celtic Park
Celtic beat Hearts 7-1 at Celtic Park in a league match on 18 October 2026, scoring two set-piece goals inside the first 10 minutes and running up a six-goal margin before the final whistle.
Hearts arrived in Glasgow with a fragile away record — two wins in 11 between this season and the end of last, both against Hibs — and attempted to match Celtic by playing aggressively up the pitch; that approach left them exposed to quick transitions and was punished repeatedly by Martin O'Neill's side.
The scoring opened with two early set-piece strikes: Liam Scales won a near-post header from a corner and Kieran Tierney was left unmarked a few yards out to force in the second, then Dane Murray battled Claudio Braga to recover and tee up Benjamin Nygren for a finish that extended Celtic's lead; Haissem Hassan later struck the post.
Midway through the first half Colby Donovan repeatedly contained Josh McPake, cutting out one of Hearts' main threats, and Sabri Guendouz's loose pass allowed Camilo Duran to combine with the impressive Callum Osmand for Celtic's third; a subsequent error involving Jamie McCart led to another Osmand goal created by Duran.
Hearts supporters began to leave before a goal that made it 4-1, and Celtic continued to press: Mika Baur slalomed past Josh McPake and Malachi Fagan-Walcott to dink a fifth, in a sequence described as being enabled by Stephen Kingsley and Jamie McCart being on the floor; later moments involved Laurent Mendy, Jamie McCart again and Tomas Magnusson in the build-up to the 6-1 and 7-1 phases, with Duran and Nygren completing the scoring.
The match statistics favoured Hearts in several categories despite the scoreline: Hearts had more shots (20-18), more shots inside the box (16-13), more possession (52%-48%), more crosses (16-10), won more duels (51%-49%), had more passes in their opponents' half (244-202) and recorded more accurate passes (458-423), but Celtic's clinical finishing and pace proved decisive.
Martin O'Neill described his reaction as "Elated, delighted, relieved" and Wouter Vrancken spoke afterward about individual errors, saying the performance was "not acceptable" but that he "won't kill players"; Vrancken declined to accept responsibility for the initial tactical setup in his post-match remarks.
Celtic will aim to sustain this form as the season continues and O'Neill could consider selecting the front three that performed well without Kasper Hogh from the start; keeping it on the long road ahead is the challenge now.
