How Celtic overcame slow start to break Hearts and kick-start title party

Elliss Simms had put the Jambos ahead early before Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O'Riley and Giorgos Giakoumakis countered.

Ange Postecoglou made one change to his team for the match, with David Turnbull returning to the starting fold for the first time since the League Cup final in December.

The win stretched the Hoops' unbeaten league run to 30 matches.

Here, The Celtic Way highlights some of the key StatsBomb data from the game to give you a match report experience like no other.

xG/trendline

The trendline offers a fair reflection of a game in which one team starts fast, scores early and then offers very little in an attacking sense while the other begins slowly before clicking into gear and making several inroads in the final third.

"We never quite got to grips with them for the first 10-15 minutes," captain Callum McGregor said after the game. That assessment is very much reinforced by the trendline as the Hoops were flatlining until around the 12th minute.

StatsBomb has the final cumulative xG totals at 2.93-0.58 in Celtic's favour, while statistically Daizen Maeda's 30th-minute goal was the 'best' chance of the match at 0.49 xG.

Based on the shots they manufactured, Celtic would have won this match 87 per cent of the time.

Shots

Celtic's had 20 attempts at goal. Fifteen of their shots were in the box - including all four goals - with the amount of those coming in close, central areas touching double figures.

The breakdown of the 20 efforts was as follows: 11 were on target (of which four resulted in a goal), four were off target and five were blocked. Craig Gordon made seven saves throughout the afternoon.

READ MORE: This remarkable Celtic side is one worth singing about - Sean Martin

Notably, every one of Celtic's shots were manufactured in open play.

Hearts, in contrast, were restricted to just six attempts. Four of those - including Simms' goal, which was also their best chance statistically - came in the opening 10 minutes. Three of their six shots were on target, one missed and two were blocked. Joe Hart made two saves.

Individually, O'Riley took the most shots with five, followed by Kyogo with four.

Possession, passing and positions

Remember that the warmer the colour the more influential the player and the thicker the passing lines the more passes between the players. The network gives a sense of where the game was played and who was most involved.

Given Celtic's dominance and the fact they were often in the Hearts third, their average positioning resembles a 2-4-4 with the full-backs high, O'Riley even higher and the centre-backs and keeper the only players really forced into playing from the home half.

Hearts' network, conversely, is ice cold and although their average shape was roughly a 4-2-4, it was relatively deep rather than an expansive, attacking one.

As well as enjoying 64 per cent possession, Celtic completed 538 of 648 pass attempts (83 per cent success) while Hearts were a relatively poor 71 per cent.

In terms of individual players, Greg Taylor, Jota and Turnbull each racked up three key passes. Taylor also topped the xGChain and played the most passes into the box (five) while making one direct assist. Jota laid on two goals with James Forrest assisting the fourth.

Pressing and defending stats

Celtic accumulated 162 pressures to the visitors' 169 but made three more pressure regains. As is so often the case, the left flank was the most intense battleground.

Maeda and O'Riley clocked the most overall pressures with 21 with Kyogo (16) and Taylor (15) also standing out in this regard. Maeda was once again Celtic's most persistent presser in terms of total duration, with substitute Giakoumakis taking the mantle for duration per pressure.

Both Maeda and Taylor topped the charts for counter-pressing with the Japan international edging it for total duration and duration per pressure.

Greg Taylor defensive actions map v Hearts

When it came to defensive actions, Taylor again stood out. The Scotland international accumulated four tackles and four interceptions as well as a clearance and an aerial win (the latter, admittedly, part of a poor 33 per cent success rate) while not being dribbled past.

Elsewhere, there were notable contributions from McGregor (four tackles), Cameron Carter-Vickers (two tackles, two interceptions, four clearances and four aerial wins) and Jota (four tackles, one interception). Carl Starfelt was the only player from either side to finish the match with a 100 per cent aerial duel success rate.