Hart watched on from the tunnel as Daizen Maeda's stunner sealed a 3-0 win in West Lothian.
He needed his teammates to finish the job without him, but Joe Hart was extremely grateful if his reaction was anything to go by.
The Celtic keeper saw red during the first half of the champions' 3-0 win at Livingston after racing out of his goal and bringing down Mo Sangare. The keeper was sent for an early bath, leaving Brendan Rodgers' men a man down, but a goal up after Reo Hatate's early penalty. That could have made for an awkward afternoon on the plastic pitch at the Tony Macaroni, but Mott O'Riley's second gave them some breathing space.
And the points were wrapped up in style thanks to a fine stoppage time finish from Diazen Maeda. By that time, Hart was watching on a monitor in the bowels of the stadium. And the roar, caught by the Sky cameras, would have included a fair amount of relief that his dismissal didn't do too much damage to the Hoops' chances.
Rodgers was delighted with the way his side coped with their numerical advantage. He said: "We lose Joe, which is his first ever sending off in his career. But we always have to plan for that, if you go down to ten men, how we want to work. "I thought the boys were then brilliant. In terms of how they took the pressure away, how they tactically moved and blocked spaces. Obviously then we were always a threat when we go forward."
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