Their gap over Celtic remains at six but only four over Rangers, the shark circling the waters at the top, their teeth restored under Danny Rohl.
Rangers have come from chaos, humiliation and fury and have moved into serious contention.
It seems completely incongruous a club the size of Rangers, its life spent under a gigantic microscope, could possibly move quietly into contention, but that’s the reality.
It only seems like five minutes ago since the boos at Ibrox could be heard in all corners of the country, where laughter was the dominant noise. Now, relatively speaking, we hear the sound of purring from that club.
This league is one of the greatest of our times; impossible to call but oh so easy to enjoy.
Celtic folk will feel they should still be locked together with Rangers on points and would be had it not been for that red card, a rarity for them in domestic football.
They will be incensed about the decision to send off Trusty for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity when leading 2-1. Was it all that obvious? Martin O’Neill thought no. Derek McInnes thought yes. Funny, that.
It did change things, though. Trusty had gone just 10 minutes when Braga had his chance to level it; point blank and a goal to all the world. Kasper Schmeichel denied him. Only six minutes remained but, actually, there were another eight on top. The temptation was to cheer when the board went up.
The equaliser sent Tynecastle into an advanced state of delirium. Just like the first time, the source of Celtic’s problems was their remarkable inability to deal with deliveries into their box.
Along with their angst about the red card some honesty about their defending should form part of their analysis. When Oisin McEntee nodded down at the back post, Braga smashed it home and sent Celtic back down the road in pain.
This league has a way to run. Any one of the top three could win it and any one of Falkirk and Motherwell could have a say in deciding who does because, on their day, they’re capable of taking points off the sides above them.
That’s what makes this season so intoxicating; so much jeopardy, so much unpredictability and so many teams who have come to the party.
Celtic thought they had Hearts on Sunday. If they focus solely on the red card then they’re missing the point – the Jambos, it must be obvious to all, are not getting the jitters.
#Intoxicating #title #fight #impossible #call #Hearts #refuse #buckle