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Trivia
- Celtic showed their championship credentials with a comfortable win over Hearts.
- Larsson fired a stunning hat-trick to take his season's domestic tally to 35 and with 31 in the SPL he is rapidly closing on Brian McClair's Scottish record of 35 in 1986/87.
Review
Celtic got off to a perfect start when Henrik Larsson put them in front after only four minutes. Alan Thompson whipped in a free kick from the left and Larsson left his marker Grant Murray standing as he leapt to head past Antti Niemi.
Only two minutes later, though, Celtic lost Joos Valgaeren when the Belgian stopper fell awkwardly after an aerial challenge with Gordon Durie, with fears that he might have fractured his ankle.
Chris Sutton was ensuring the Hearts defence knew they were in a game and he picked up an early booking after a tussle with Gordan Petric.
Niemi was much the busier of the two goalkeepers and he made a superb reflex save from Ramon Vega who had escaped the attentions of Petric.
A move involving Larsson, Paul Lambert and Sutton almost culminated in Celtic's second goal but having rounded Niemi, Larsson was unable to pick out a team-mate in the middle.
Another good passing move by Celtic ended with Sutton stretching in vain at the back post to reach Larsson's ball with Niemi beaten.
Hearts came close to an equaliser just before half-time when Rab Douglas failed to collect a corner kick and Scott Severin's goal-bound effort from the edge of the box was headed over by Boyd.
The second half began as a much more even affair than the first had, with Hearts applying a little more pressure on the Celtic goal, but with no real end product.
Celtic continued to create the better chances and Sutton was foiled by a superb blocking challenge by Murray as he bore down on Niemi.
In 68 minutes, just as Hearts were enjoying their best spell, Henrik Larsson put the game beyond them with an exquisite goal. Alan Thompson broke from a deep position down the left and his perfect pass into the box allowed Larsson to flick the ball beyond the helpless Niemi.
Hearts' endeavour was not in question but they could not find an answer to Larsson and the Swede got his hat-trick with five minutes remaining. Larsson gathered the ball in the middle of the park before feeding Didier Agathe on the right. Agathe took the ball to the goal-line before pulling it back to Larsson who took a touch before placing his shot beyond Niemi.
Teams
Hearts:-
Niemi, Murray, Pressley, Petric, Flogel, Tomaschek, Cameron, Severin (Boyack 58), McAnespie (Juanjo 63), Durie (McSwegan 79), Kirk.
Subs not used:- McKenzie, Makel.
Booked:- Durie, Petric, Juanjo.
Celtic:-
Douglas, Vega, Valgaeren (Boyd 6), Mjallby, Agathe, Lambert, McNamara, Lennon, Thompson (Moravcik 85), Larsson (Smith 85), Sutton.
Subs not used:- Gould, Burchill.
Goals:- Larsson 4, 68, 83.
Booked:- Sutton, Smith.
Att:- 13,077
Ref:- K Clark.
Articles
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Larsson hat-trick destroys Hearts
BBC
Hearts 0-3 Celtic
Celtic showed their championship credentials with a comfortable win over Hearts at Tynecastle.
An early Henrik Larsson goal put them on their way, although the home side did edge back into the game towards the end of the first half.
But the Henrik Larsson show continued unabated in the second period and the Swede notched another two goals to put the game beyond Hearts.
The only down point for Celtic was the loss of defender Joos Valgaeren through injury, with fears that he might have fractured his ankle.
Celtic got off to a perfect start when Henrik Larsson put them in front after only four minutes.
Alan Thompson whipped in a free kick from the left and Larsson left his marker Grant Murray standing as he leapt to head past Antti Niemi.
Only two minutes later, though, the visitors lost Joos Valgaeren when the Belgian stopper fell awkwardly after an aerial challenge with Gordon Durie.
Celtic were totally dominant in the early stages and Steven Pressley had to be alert to block Larsson in in the eighth minute.
Chris Sutton was ensuring the Hearts defence knew they were in a game and he picked up an early booking after a tussle with Gordan Petric.
The good news was the victory and I thought they played excellently – the bad news is the injury to big Joos and it doesn't look good
Martin O'Neill
Celtic manager
Niemi was much the busier of the two goalkeepers and he made a superb reflex save from Ramon Vega who had escaped the attentions of Petric.
A move involving Larsson, Paul Lambert and Sutton almost culminated in Celtic's second goal but having rounded Niemi, Larsson was unable to pick out a team-mate in the middle.
Goal-bound effort
Hearts began to come into the game around the half-hour mark and Andy Kirk fired wide after good work by Robert Tomaschek.
Another good passing move by Celtic ended with Sutton stretching in vain at the back post to reach Larsson's ball with Niemi beaten.
Hearts came close to an equaliser just before half-time when Rab Douglas failed to collect a corner kick and Scott Severin's goal-bound effort from the edge of the box was headed over by Boyd.
The second half began as a much more even affair than the first had, with Hearts applying a little more pressure on the Celtic goal, but with no real end product.
Celtic continued to create the better chances and Sutton was foiled by a superb blocking challenge by Murray as he bore down on Niemi.
Exquisite finish
Lambert had a long-range effort blocked before substitute Tom Boyd amost put through his own goal.
A Colin Cameron free kick into the box glanced off Boyd's head and flew just wide of goal.
But in 68 minutes, just as Hearts were enjoying their best spell, Henrik Larsson put the game beyond them with an exquisite goal.
I think the scoreline was disappointing as I felt we didn't do ourselves justice
Craig Levein
Hearts manager
Alan Thompson broke from a deep position down the left and his perfect pass into the box allowed Larsson to flick the ball beyond the helpless Niemi.
Hearts' endeavour was not in question but they could not find an answer to Larsson and the Swede got his hat-trick with five minutes remaining.
Larsson gathered the ball in the middle of the park before feeding Didier Agathe on the right.
Agathe took the ball to the goal-line before pulling it back to Larsson who took a touch before placing his shot beyond Niemi.
Teams:
Hearts: Niemi, Murray, Pressley, Petric, Flogel, Tomaschek, Cameron, Severin, McAnespie, Durie, Kirk.
Subs: McKenzie, McSwegan, Makel, Juanjo, Boyack.
Celtic Douglas, Vega, Valgaeren, Mjallby, Agathe, Lambert, McNamara, Lennon, Thompson, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs: Gould, Boyd, Moravcik, Burchill, Smith.
Referee: Kenny Clark