Brendan Rodgers admits Hearts caught him out tactically in the first-half at Tynecastle.
But the Celtic manager was adept enough to change things around at half-time and his players put on a ruthless masterclass to go three points clear at the top of the Premiership.
The Hoops were slow and struggled to break a solid Hearts shape down in the opening period of the encounter.
It was 0-0 at the break so Rodgers adapted to Hearts’ press and the difference was remarkable in the second-half.
Celtic attacked with much more vigour and were able to pass through the Jambos more often. The goals then started to flow as Kyogo, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah all scored to secure a 4-1 victory.
Rodgers on half-time Celtic tactical tweak
Rodgers told Sky Sports after the match: “It’s a very, very good win. I think when you come here to Tynecastle and win 4-1, it’s an excellent performance, especially in the second-half.
“I thought first-half they pressed us well and pressed in a different shape from what we anticipated having watched Neil and his team, so we didn’t quite play through how we wanted to.
“But once we figured that out and sorted it out at half-time, second-half we got through that pressure really well and we looked very, very good going forward.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the goal we concede but to come here, such a difficult place, with the scoreline that convincing, I’m really pleased.
“They’ve been pressing as a 4-4-2 and of course, that’s what we expected in the game and we give credit to them in how they did that.
“Our players when we went through it at half-time, they adjusted really well and we could play through with better numbers and make that press much better. Scored very good goals and kept going right till the very end which is the mark of a good team.”
Rodgers reacts to Rangers & Aberdeen dropping points
Asked how pleased he is that his Celtic side won this weekend when Rangers and Aberdeen both dropped points in the title race, Rodgers replied: “Yeah I thought we had good spells in the first-half, but second-half we were just much better and much cleaner with our ball possession.
“And like you say, if our nearest rivals drop points, you want to take advantage of that. Still very early in the season but still, this early it’s good to get the win.
“Everybody would have looked at this as a tough game but we came here and managed the game really well and got the three points.
“So really, really pleased and we’ve just got to keep that focus and intensity.”
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