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Hearts breaker for champions Celtic
GLASGOW (AFP) - UEFA Cup chasing Hearts dented Celtic's hopes of brandishing their Scottish Premier League trophy with pride after stunning the champions 3-1 at Parkhead on Sunday.
Celtic dominated an eventless first half but it was Hearts who broke the deadlock when Kestutis Ivaskevicius poked the ball past Artur Boruc in the 57th minute.
A curling free kick from Andrew Driver doubled the visitors' lead barely four minutes later, and then former Tynecastle defender Steven Pressley headed home to reduce the arrears for Celtic just after the hour mark.
Hearts' 16th win of the season was virtually assured when Pressley brought down Ghanaian international Laryea Kingston in the penalty area and Michal Pospisil stepped up to beat Boruc from the spot to make it 3-1.
The result was Celtic's fourth defeat of the season, but will prove a blip on a championship campaign which they wrapped up last week when Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura struck a late winner away at Kilmarnock.
It is a lot more valuable to fourth-placed Hearts, who can now hope to push Aberdeen, in third, all the way in the race for a place in next season's UEFA Cup.
Aberdeen have a four-point lead over Hearts, with Hibernian in fifth at 11 points adrift of their Edinburgh rivals.
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