Hearts went eight points clear at the top of William Hill Premiership, after putting Celtic to the sword in a 3-1 victory at Tynecastle Park.
Dane Murray netted a horrendous own-goal early on to get the Jambos moving, before Callum McGregor netted a quickfire equaliser to restore parity.
The Maroons roared out of the traps in the second 45 as Alexandros Kyziridis notched, before Lawrence Shankland converted a penalty to blow the Hoops away.
After much discussion about whether Derek McInnes would tweak the formula, the Hearts boss once again maintained the same XI that delivered four wins from four - the only change coming on the bench as the returning Eduardo Ageu replaced Alan Forrest.
Hearts dominated the ball in the early stages, set to the cauldron of noise generated by the expectant Jambos in attendance. Craig Halkett seeing his header go just wide from Harry Milne's corner two minutes in.
Two minutes later, Hearts had their first big chance. Alexandros Kyziridis skipped past a green shirt and squared the ball to Lawrence Shankland; the skipper's low effort going just past the post.
A maroon goal was coming, and Celtic delivered it wrapped in a bow for the Jambos after eight minutes via an own-goal.
Stephen Kingsley's cross was eventually knocked onto the head of Claudio Braga, whose flicked header was tipped back into play by Kasper Schmeichel.
In the resulting goalmouth scramble, Dane Murray blootered the ball into the top corner whilst attempting to clear, but the Celtic would soon redeem himself after netting the equaliser after 12 minutes.
Kieran Tierney's searching run into the Hearts area saw the ball cut back for Callum McGregor, who supplied a good finish to send the ball into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Alexander Schwolow.
The game became trench warfare now, with both sides flying into every 50/50 looking for control of the match.
Hearts went close again on the half-hour mark, Kyziridis causing all sorts of problems once more on the left flank; his cross was cleared dreadfully by the Celtic defence, and almost spilled into the net before going inches wide.
A big chance fell Celtic's way after 37 minutes as a Hearts clearance was intercepted by Reo Hatate, sparking a sweeping move up the park for the Hoops.
The ball was eventually cut back by Tierney for Benjamin Nygren who fired home from close range; denied by a sensational hand from Alex Schwolow as Hearts beat Celtic back.
HT: Heart of Midlothian 1-1 Celtic
Celtic were there for the taking, and Hearts raced into the lead after 52 minutes.
Kyziridis danced away from his marker on the left side, cutting into the box and lining up on goal, with his powerful strike beating Schmeichel as his near post to send Tynecastle Park into raptures.
The boys in maroon were just getting started, and the third arrived minutes later after Claudio Braga was chopped down in the box and earned Hearts a penalty. Lawrence Shankland stepped up, making no mistake from the spot as the Jambos made it three.
Hearts enjoyed much of the ball for the remainder of the half, but still had to be alive to the occasional threat, Schwolow producing another fine save to tip a curling effort behind with three minutes to go.
There were no further goals to report, and table topping Hearts secured all three points, and widened the gap to eight points...
Hearts: Schwolow, Kingsley (McCart 90'), Halkett, Baningime, Shankland (Kabangu 90'), Braga (Magnusson 80'), Devlin, Milne, Findlay, McEntee (Steinwender 70'), Kyziridis (Ageu 70')
Subs: Gordon, McCart, Kabangu, Kabore, Steinwender, Spittal, Magnusson, Kerjota, Ageu
Celtic: Schmeichel, Donovan, Murray, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Hatate, Engels, Nygren (McCowan 70'), Tounekti, Kenny
Subs: Sinisalo, Trusty, Balikwisha, McCowan, Shin, Bernardo, Saracchi, Forrest, Ralston
Attendance: 18,774
