celtic 2

hearts 0

Scorer: Larsson (45, 64).

THEY wheeled out the old trouper to give his first full

performance of the season and Lubo Moravcik did not let Celtic down. It takes some

display to snatch the man-of-the-match award from Henrik Larsson these days, especially when he has scored the only two goals of the game.

Lubo, who is 36, did precisely that and not a soul in the whole stadium would have raised a murmur in protest.

My own guess is that Lubo has conned the lot of us.The man has purloined somebody else's birth certificate. I'm sure he's 28. How else can you explain the energy he expends. His silky skill is easier to comprehend; it comes naturally.

Playing against a Hearts side which, on their manager's own admission, had a game plan that was built on frustrating the opposition, Celtic needed a player like Moravcik to come up with the unexpected, an art of which he is a master.

He is also prone, when the victory has been established, to entertain the fans a wee cheeky flick, a piece of ball juggling or a delicious dummy to lighten their day. There ain't many of his kind around.

His own team-mates never cease to be amazed at Lubo's skills, none more so than Neil Lennon who has seen some fine players in his day with Leicester City and Northern Ireland.

''Lubo is just a tremendous football player.'' he said with patent sincerity. ''He is terrific with both feet and can go either way. I played against Luis Figo in my fifth or sixth cap for Northern Ireland and he was like that, too; he could slip off either way.

''You just wonder where Lubo has been for 10 years. He has fantastic naturally ability. He is a maverick, he really is, and you can see he is really enjoying his football.''

With Chris Sutton replacing Joos Valgaeren in central defence, manager Martin O'Neill might have been taking a gamble, but he wasn't. Sutton had worn that shirt before and is comfortable in it. To be honest, he was not put to the test too often.

It allowed O'Neill to give new striker John Hartson a full 90 minutes in his first Parkhead appearance. The man bought from Coventry City missed two great opportunities with his head but was involved in a smart build-up for Larsson's opening goal just before the half time whistle.

Having said that, the way the Swede turned and shot in one movement was the stamp of a world-class striker, however, such a statement seems to annoy our friends in the south.

Until that moment, Hearts were holding out by dint of a well-choreographed defensive system which Craig Levein devised in the hope of frustrating the Parkhead lot, getting the crowd a little restless and maybe snatching a goal themselves.

Levein was feeling content until that strike, especially with the performance of young Stephen Simmons who was not at all fazed by making his first start in front of 58,000 in Glasgow.

Once that strike went in, as O'Neill and Lennon said, the way was clear to go on and secure the three points.

Goal No.2 was the result of a foul, not much of a foul, by Steven Pressley on Larsson on the edge of the box. That is a place from which any one of a bundle of Celtic players is capable of bending a ball into the net. Larsson elected to do the job himself, and did it perfectly.

There was not much to wait around for then, as Hearts were incapable of recovering from that deficit and never seemed intent on making a serious effort to do so, anyhow.

''We are very lucky we have players who are capable of unlocking tight defences,'' said Lennon. ''I felt last season that there was more to come from this team and, hopefully, we can tap into that. However, it is early days yet.''

He made the point that Didier Agathe, who has signed a new contract, has only been playing top level football for a year.

''His overall performance in Amsterdam was tremendous and he is sure to come on. We have progressed a long way in a year and it was a great night against Ajax on Wednesday, but we still have the second leg to face. Our priority still is to win the championship again.''

O'Neill was pleased that Hartson got the chance to get to know better the style of play at Parkhead. ''He knows he could have scored a couple of times but he will get sharper as time goes on. John can get goal all right,'' said the Irishman.

''I knew I could play Chris Sutton at centre-half and not concern myself too much. He has a good footballing brain and can play. Today was more of an experiment than anything else.

''I felt that the adrenaline from Wednesday would carry us through and so it proved, but Sutton is probably in the form of his life.''

Levein's main disappointment was the injury suffered by Robert Tomascek, who hurt his knee when he made a fine recovery tackle in the first half. ''There is a lot of swelling around the knee'' said Levein, ''and we will need to wait and see how that develops.

''Simmons is a young lad with a bright future. He feels he should be playing at this level and I knew he could handle it. We have just got to keep his feet on the ground.''

Former Celtic man Stephane Mahe had a fine debut for his new club and keeper Antti Niemi was as excellent as he was all last season.

Substitutions

Celtic Guppy for Petta 71min, Maloney for Larsson 71min Hearts McCann for Tomaschek 10min, Severin for Fulton 56min, Juanjo for Boyack 67min

Subs not used

Celtic Kharine, McNamara, Crainey Hearts McKenzie, McSwegan

REFEREE W Young

BOOKINGS Celtic None Hearts None

Attendance: 58,423