Furuhashi’s double inspires win over Hearts and extends Celtic’s lead

Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice as Celtic's win over Hearts kept alive the possibility of a championship celebration against Rangers.

The Japanese forward scored two goals in the first 25% of the match and Matt O'Riley scored a penalty towards the end as the top team in the Premiership moved ahead of Rangers by 6 points and 8 goals. Rangers are set to play against Kilmarnock on Sunday.

If Rangers do not win, Celtic will have the opportunity to secure their third title in a row when they compete against their biggest competitors next Saturday.

If Rangers manage to defeat Kilmarnock, it would not matter much because Celtic's victory in the following match would bring them very close to winning the championship. As a preparation for the most significant game of the season, Celtic appeared impressive in a lively Celtic Park.

Hearts' goalkeeper, Zander Clark, made a series of great saves that prevented Celtic from increasing their goal difference lead.

In the past, Hearts have been victorious in the last two matches against this opponent. However, during the beginning of the game, the visiting team put up a strong fight and almost were able to secure a lead in the first minute. Lawrence Shankland had a promising opportunity to score with a cutback from Dexter Lembikisa, but Cameron Carter-Vickers managed to block the shot by swiftly throwing himself in the way and redirecting the ball behind the goal.

Livingston's comeback to the Championship has been verified after spending six consecutive seasons in the highest league. A brace from Theo Bair, with one from the spot, and goals from Sam Nicholson and Dan Casey for Motherwell at Fir Park cemented this confirmation.

Joel Nouble managed to score one goal for Livi, but unfortunately they were unable to escape relegation after their victory against Ross County last week.

After experiencing a difficult loss, Ross County managed to recover and move out of the spot for potential demotion from the league. They surpassed St Johnstone with a 2-1 victory against Hibernian, during which Jordan White struck the game-winning goal in the 88th minute. Simon Murray had previously quickly equalized the score after Myziane Maolida's early goal for Hibs.

In the 68th minute of the match, Bojan Miovski scored a penalty that resulted in St Johnstone's defeat against the team placed eighth, Aberdeen, on their home ground of Pittodrie, with a score of 1-0.

In another location, St Mirren made an important move towards obtaining a spot in Europe for the first time in 37 years. They achieved this after scoring three goals, courtesy of Alex Gogic, Scott Tanser, and Toyosi Olusanya, leading to a 3-1 victory over Dundee at Dens Park. The sixth-placed hosts had a chance to overtake their opponents, but they missed out. Michael Mellon was able to score one goal for Dundee during the match.

The blog section can be paraphrased as follows: The image in question was captured by Russell Cheyne and was featured under the name "Rex Features".

In the fourth minute, the team playing at their home ground scored first. Clark cleared the corner taken by O'Riley, directing it towards the edge of the box. Hatate then made a high lob towards the goal, which Furuhashi headed into the net.

Even though Shankland had moved back to the designated line, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did a rigorous review to check for the possibility of offside. This was due to Clark being in a forward position compared to the Celtic player, Hatate, at the time of collecting the ball.

The Hearts football team found themselves in a precarious situation once more, but were saved by the amazing efforts of their goalkeeper, Joe Hart. With just one hand, he managed to block a powerful shot by Cammy Devlin. However, the game was far from over as the ball continued to travel back and forth between the teams. Carter-Vickers attempted a header, but unfortunately missed the mark and the intense game continued.

The Celtic team made it 2-0 in the 21st minute thanks to O'Riley's brilliant pass over the defence. Furuhashi used his weaker right foot to control the ball and then put it perfectly in the lower corner of the net.

In the first half, Celtic ended on a high note with Clark stopping shots from three players: Greg Taylor, O'Riley, and Furuhashi.

The team in first place carried on with their strong performance after the intermission and Clark made a great save from Hatate and O’Riley. Shortly after, James Forrest put up two good attempts.

The sound of the supporters in the stadium grew louder, and the swift moves made by Callum McGregor and Furuhashi while retreating resulted in cheers that were almost as loud as the ones heard when they scored goals.

In the second half of the game, Hearts only managed to create one opportunity. However, goalkeeper Joe Hart was able to make a crucial save in a last-ditch effort to prevent Yutaro Oda from scoring. Oda had received a pass from substitute Scott Fraser before attempting the shot that was blocked by Hart.

Celtic punished their opponents by scoring a goal through O'Riley's penalty kick in the 87th minute. The penalty kick was given after Shankland was caught committing a handball and the referee, Kevin Clancy, had to review the video footage.

Clark made a great save on Daizen Maeda's shot from a short distance and the fans of the Green Brigade showed their eagerness for the upcoming game with a banner that led to chants of "Let's face the Rangers" towards the end of the match.

Rodgers expressed the same view. He said, "I'm really happy that our players stepped up and made a big impact in such an important game." He shared the sentiment with BBC Scotland and added, "This gives us a strong foundation for next week."