Celtic suffer 2-1 home defeat to Hearts | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSunday, December 7, 2025Celtic Park

CELTIC…1(Tierney 90 +3)

HEARTS…2(Braga 44, McEntee 65)

Celtic were defeated 2-1 by Hearts at Celtic Park this afternoon, with the visitors scoring just before half-time and then midway through the second half to take all three points, with Kieran Tierney reducing the deficit late on.

Before kick-off, Wilfried Nancy was announced out of the tunnel and took the acclaim of the Hoops faithful who welcomed the new boss to the dugout for the first time.

Celtic carved out two big opportunities early in proceedings, both of which fell to Daizen Maeda. Kieran Tierney picked the forward out with a great through ball but Maeda, still sporting a head bandage after his knock against Dundee on Wednesday, was unable to really trouble the keeper with his shot. Seconds later he found himself with another chance from close range but this time his effort went just wide of the post.

As the half progressed, Celtic continued to control the game but were unable to find a route to goal, and encouraged by the fact that they were still level, and completely against the run of play, the visitors managed to find the opener just before half-time.

The ball was worked in to Celtic’s box and was cleared twice before it fell to the feet of Claudio Braga who sent a shot in to the bottom corner to give Hearts a 1-0 half-time lead.

The Hoops looked to start the second half with the same intensity and intent they had showed throughout the first 45 minutes, and just minutes after the restart, a well-worked move saw Reo Hatate feed the ball towards Sebastian Tounekti in the box, but the winger was unable to keep it in play.

With just under an hour gone, Wilfried Nancy made the first change of the afternoon, bringing Luke McCowan on in place of Sebastian Tounekti, as Celtic hunted for an opportunity to draw themselves level in the game.

Lawrence Shankland went close to doubling his side’s lead when Alexandros Kyziridis picked him out in the box, but his effort was well-saved by Kasper Schmeichel who turned it behind for a corner.

From the resulting corner, however, Hearts scored their second of the match. Harry Milne sent the ball deep in to the box and Oisin McEntee powered a headed finish in to the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Celtic came close to grabbing a goal back with five minutes left but the Hearts keeper made a good save after an Engels header from close range. Reo Hatate followed up with a powerful shot and was unlucky not to score, with his effort cannoning off the bar.

In stoppage time, Kieran Tierney scored a consolation goal when he found the back of the net from inside the box to make it 2-1.