Maeda hits 30 as Celtic bounce back against Hearts
Maeda hits 30 as Celtic bounce back against Hearts
Celtic striker Daizen Maeda took his tally for the season to 30 goals with a double as a 3-0 win over Hearts on Saturday edged the Hoops closer to a fourth consecutive Scottish Premiership title.
Brendan Rodgers' men had two weeks to reflect on their 3-2 home defeat to fierce rivals Rangers before the international break.
But it remains a question of when rather than if they seal the title after extending their lead at the top to 16 points.
Rangers can narrow that advantage when they travel to Dundee later, but Celtic need just three wins from their remaining seven games to be champions.
The home side took time to find their feet at Celtic Park and needed stand-in goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo, deputising for the injured Kasper Schmeichel, to make a smart save from Lewis Neilson early on.
However, Hearts' bold offensive approach also left them vulnerable to the speed of Celtic's counter-attack.
Captain Callum McGregor's presence was badly missed by Rodgers in a rare home derby defeat a fortnight ago and he marked his return with an assist for Maeda to coolly slot home the opening goal.
Maeda also played a major role in the second as his clever header came back off the post and Jota pounced on the rebound for his fourth goal since returning to Glasgow in January.
A fluent team move made it 3-0 before the break as Nicolas Kuhn squared for Maeda to tap in his 10th goal in his last eight league starts.
The Japan international has thrived in a more central role since the departure to compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi in the January window and is already enjoying his best ever goalscoring season.
Defeat is a blow to Hearts' European ambitions as they remain just inside the top six with two games to go before the league splits in two for the final five matches of the season.
Hibernian remain in third thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over bottom-of-the-table St. Johnstone.
Aberdeen stay just a point further back and secured their place in the top six thanks to a 4-1 victory over Motherwell.
St. Mirren also did their chances of a top-half finish no harm with a 5-1 thrashing of Kilmarnock to move to within one point of Hearts.
kca/nf
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