Hearts strengthened their grip on the second Champions League slot with an emphatic 3-0 win over champions Celtic yesterday in the Scottish Premier League. They grabbed two goals in an opening nine-minute blitz with Paul Hartley creating the opener and scoring the second.

He whipped in a vicious free-kick from the left on seven minutes which Celtic defender Stephen McManus headed into his own net. Then Hartley took a quick free-kick at the edge of the area while keeper Artur Boruc was still assembling his defensive wall and swerved the ball into the top right of the net.

Hartley also set up the third with a fine diagonal ball to release Roman Bednar to race in and sweep a shot over Boruc on 63 minutes.

Celtic top the standings with 87 points from 36 games with Hearts second on 71. Rangers are third on 67 points after a 3-1 win at Kilmarnock on Saturday.

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