Heart of Midlothian bounced back from a two-game winless run with a big performance and result to beat Celtic 2-0 at Tynecastle Park on Sunday afternoon.

It was an eventful afternoon in Gorgie, from controversial refereeing decisions to a great goal and a number of missed chances. 

What does the StatsBomb data tell us about the game?

READ MORE: Steven Naismith Q&A: Brilliant performance, soft decisions, Nieuwenhof praise

Match stats

Hearts Standard:

Despite the one-man advantage for Hearts, the stats suggest an even encounter across the board, offensively, defensively and in possession. However, we can see that Celtic created the better chances. But context requires applying to Celtic's 2.30 xG to Hearts' 1.63, which we will get to. 

To an extent, it would have been interesting to see how the game unfolded if Hyun-Jun Yang hadn't been sent off. It was only 16 minutes into the game but Hearts were performing well when it was 11 v 11. The visitors settled well after the red card and retained possession. Importantly Hearts kept to a game plan and didn't go chasing the match when they didn't need to at a time when it would have been easy to lose positional discipline. 

Race chart

As was noted earlier, Celtic's xG figure is higher than Hearts'. According to StatsBomb, Brendan Rodgers' men would win the game 51 per cent of the time. But it is crucial to notice the timing of the goals and the best Celtic chances.

Hearts scored at the right times. Right before half-time and then before the hour mark, meaning they had a strong lead to defend. When Lawrence Shankland swept his shot past a helpless Joe Hart the home side had the greater xG figure (1.45 to 1.28). Then the game state changed, Celtic had to force the issue and Hearts didn't need to push for a goal. They could be reactive.

Aside from the early penalty, Celtic's best three chances (xG of 0.38, 0.15 and 0.26 from Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O'Riley and Adam Idah respectively) arrived in the 70th, 78th and 86th minutes. 

Hearts had done what they needed to do in the first hour and had Zander Clark in inspired form to ensure a 14th league clean sheet.

Shankland goal

Lawrence Shankland is good at scoring goals. It is a fact Hearts fans know only too well. He looked like he had doubled the Hearts lead in the first half with an excellent finish to round off a counter-attack only to be marginally offside.

His actual goal, however, was typical Shankland, the ball coming towards his right boot and a sweep into the bottom corner. 

"It was quite instinctive," he said. "As soon as it bounced up I thought ‘I’m hitting this’. I caught it really well and it was a good finish."

The more you watch the goal, the more impressive the finish is. It is far from straightforward with the way it bounces towards him after Calem Nieuwenhof prodded it in his direction. Yet, it is a chance Hearts fans just expect him to score.

StatsBomb gave it an xG of just 0.12 (on the diagram below it is the cream-coloured hexagon right of centre just inside the box). Essentially it is an effort that would be scored once every 8.3 shots.

However, the PSxG (it measures the likelihood of it being a goal once it has been struck) rose drastically to 0.87. That's how good a finish it was. That it would find the back of the net every 1.15 shots. 

He is an expert finisher.

System

We can see from the pass network and average positions that there was a clear shape and structure to the team. The three centre-backs, Beni Baningime sitting deep with Jorge Grant and Calem Nieuwenhof playing higher up.

Only Matt O'Riley had more crosses than the two Hearts wing-backs who provided width.

The interesting player within that is Baningime. His 33 passes were on the lower end, five below his league average. Yet, he showed his importance against the Old Firm by keeping the ball, making 91 per cent of his passes. 

READ MORE: Why Kenneth Vargas missed Hearts win over Celtic - Halkett and Kent update

Forrest pressure

The above shows Hearts' pressure across the pitch. We can see the home side were most engaged in the middle third with the exception of a blotch high up the park on the left-hand side. That was Alan Forrest.

The Hearts winger proved himself to be a right pest against Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Rowles

Finally, the Australian centre-back deserves a lot of credit for his performance. He struggled against Cyriel Dessers' physicality in the defeat to Rangers. It is a side to his game that has often been questioned. However, he was excellent against Celtic and was really aggressive in how he played against Adam Idah, engaging with him at all points.

No player on the pitch made more than his five tackles and interceptions. The nearest player in maroon was Baningime on two.