WHAT a difference a couple of weeks can make. If the question prior to this game was over whether Celtic could gain revenge over Hearts for their opening day Premiership defeat at Tynecastle, the only question after was how this Hearts team managed it.

This was always likely to be a different kettle of fish altogether, of course. For a start, it took place at a packed Celtic Park. But it isn’t only in the stands that the mood music has changed beyond all recognition in the period between that famous win for the Jambos and now.

Ange Postecoglou’s team are almost unrecognisable from the one who wilted in the closing stages two weeks ago at Tynecastle. They had the home fans purring and the Hearts players perplexed with the quality and pace of their football, particularly in a frantic first-half where the visitors simply couldn’t live with them. Goals from Odsonne Edouard and Stephen Welsh were scant reward for their dominance.

Their momentum was halted a little at the start of the second period as Liam Boyce pulled one back for Hearts from the penalty spot, before the excellent Kyogo Furuhashi restored their two-goal advantage.

Ok, they then conspired to lose a late second to give the final scoreline a flattering slant for Hearts as Aaron McEneff swept home in injury time, but there was far more in the game than the single-goal margin suggested.

And that is why this Celtic team are almost unrecognisable from that of a fortnight ago, but not totally. Defensive concerns remain, with Carl Starfelt particularly looking off the pace as he adjusts to life in Scottish football.

Hearts, helped by the half-time introduction of Josh Ginnelly and an excellent performance yet again from Beni Baningime, deserve credit for refusing to fold in the face of the first-half torrent that came their way.

Postecoglou took the opportunity to try both Edouard and Furuhashi in the same line-up for the first time from the start, with Edouard through the middle and Furuhashi dropping out to the left to replace Ryan Christie.

James McCarthy made the bench for the first time, and he would make his bow in a Celtic jersey late on.

Edouard looked livelier in terms of his movement than of late, and he was close to getting on the end of a low David Turnbull cross early on, before Furuhashi burst into life on the left and got the first shot on target of the day. Former Celt Craig Gordon got down well to his left to palm clear.

Celtic were throwing the kitchen sink at Hearts, and James Forrest fresh-aired an attempted strike on the edge of the box before Tom Rogic and Turnbull both had a swipe at it too as it bounced around the box, with the visitors doing just enough in the end to scramble clear.

Hearts may have thought they had weathered the early storm as Celtic’s frantic pace dropped a little, but they were proving their own worst enemy at times with their own careless distribution. The ball was gifted to Edouard on the edge of the area, with the forward rather tamely screwing wide, before more wasteful finishing from Rogic after some dazzling feet inside the box let Hearts off the hook again.

There was a moment of controversy as Edouard raced into the box and got onto a pass from Rogic, with the forward going down rather easily as John Souttar placed an arm on his shoulder. It would have been a soft penalty, but it was also a little hard on Edouard to receive a yellow card for simulation from referee John Beaton.

Things were soon looking up for the striker though as he swept Celtic into a deserved lead. And it was another sequence of play that had the home fans on their feet.

Hearts had ventured over half way, and that proved foolhardy. Edouard laid the ball off to Turnbull who immediately released Furuhashi scampering in behind on the left. The Japanese played a peach of a first-time pass into Forrest on the right, who got his head up and reversed it back inside where Edouard had made up the ground to finish.

It was a devastating piece of play, and Edouard should have had another moments later.

A brilliant diagonal from Anthony Ralston picked out Furuhashi inside the area, who in turn fed Forrest, who touched it on to Edouard. He sidestepped Craig Halkett, but Gordon stood tall to deny him from eight yards.

Furuhashi was next to spurn a chance, Turnbull’s scuffed shot after his free-kick came off the wall being anticipated brilliantly by the attacker, but he prodded wide of the post. Seconds later though, it was two.

Rogic’s shot was deflected wide for a corner, with Celtic taking it quickly. Greg Taylor tapped to Edouard who hung up a tempting cross that Welsh attacked with glee, crashing a header past Gordon.

Robbie Neilson sent on Ginnelly at the break to try and turn the tide, and in fairness, he made an impact. The winger got into a decent position in the area in the opening minutes, and went to ground under the close attention of Welsh. No penalty was forthcoming, but curiously given referee Beaton’s earlier admonishment of Edouard in strikingly similar circumstances, neither was a caution for Ginnelly.

Play swung up the other end again though, and Gordon denied Edouard twice in quick succession, and it seemed a matter of time before Celtic added to their lead. But Ginnelly had other ideas.

The winger got in behind Taylor and sent a cross in that Starfelt intercepted. The defender never saw Boyce nipping in on the blind side though, and as he swung a leg at the ball he succeeded only in booting the forward and sending him to the ground. It was a stonewall penalty, and Boyce got up and brought Hearts back into the tie by sending Joe Hart the wrong way.

Well, briefly.

Celtic sparked back into life and some clever movement from Furuhashi allowed Rogic to release him in on goal. From a tight angle on the left, Furuhashi smashed the ball high at Gordon, and while it was a good strike the Hearts keeper will be disappointed to have let it through his hands and into the net.

The game rather petered out from there, but Hearts did get a late consolation as the ball was cut back for McEneff to score with a tidy finish. A messy end for Celtic, but another encouraging day all in all for the Postecoglou project.