Scottish Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Heart of Midlothian

A superb double from 19-year-old Patrick Roberts helped Celtic to a convincing win over third-top Hearts.

Jamie Walker gave the visitors a stunning and deserved lead early on, but that was cancelled out shortly after by Gary Mackay-Steven.

Roberts scored with two fine strikes, one in each half, while Hearts' Juwon Oshaniwa was sent off late on.

The win edges Celtic closer to the title and puts more distance between them and second-placed Aberdeen.

With Tom Rogic's last-minute winner against Kilmarnock having eased some of the pressure on manager Ronny Deila, the stuttering reigning champions knew they had to build on the feel-good factor that followed the Australian's precious Rugby Park strike.

The healthy home support inside Celtic Park was evidence of that and of the edge that's always attached to this fixture.

Patrick Roberts' chip past Neil Alexander put Celtic into a 2-1 lead

But it was the small band of Hearts fans who were celebrating in the Glasgow sunshine after only six minutes.

Spanish striker Juanma held off Dedryck Boyata just inside the Celtic box and slipped the ball to Jamie Walker, who smashed a shot high into top left hand corner of Craig Gordon's goal.

The Celtic defence could have dealt with it better, but it was a fine strike from a player in top form.

The visitors were ahead for just 10 minutes, though, and the strike to level was as impressive as the opener.

Leigh Griffiths' fierce free-kick was palmed behind by Neil Alexander, but the ball broke to Mackay-Steven from the resulting corner and he lashed the ball left-footed low past the outstretched arm of the goalkeeper from just outside the box.

An engrossing battle for the upper hand followed, but it was Hearts who saw more of the ball and almost took the lead when Alim Ozturk's curling 25-yard free-kick bounced off the Celtic crossbar.

However, 10 minutes before the break, Roberts raised the roof with a sumptuous goal to give Ronny Deila's side the lead.

Jamie Walker opened the scoring for Hearts but their lead lasted only 10 minutes in Glasgow

Rogic's tenacity on the right hand side paid off and when he knocked the ball through to Roberts, Celtic's young Manchester City loanee delicately lobbed the ball over Alexander from eight yards.

With both teams fully committed, it threatened to boil over following a clash of heads between Rogic and Oshaniwa - Griffiths and Buaben had to be separated and both had their names taken by referee Bobby Madden.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the on-loan hot shot was at it again with his second and Celtic's third.

Griffiths fed Stefan Johnansen deep inside the Hearts half and, when the Norwegian's flick found Roberts, the 19-year-old skipped into the box and curled the ball left footed low past Alexander.

Hearts looked deflated for a spell after that and, while they continued to enjoy long periods of possession, it was Celtic's Griffiths and Callum McGregor who went closest to scoring.

The visitors' misery was compounded in stoppage time when Oshaniwa was sent off for a second yellow card.