Hearts 1 Celtic 4Simon Lynch and Shaun Maloney showed Martin O'Neill they could save him a fortune in the transfer market by taking the club to 100 points with two goals apiece at Tynecastle yesterday.
The teenage duo made a big impact by notching impressive doubles.
Hearts looked lifeless after they were pipped the last UEFA Cup place before kick-off.
Livingston qualified for European competition for the first time in their 28-year history when they beat Dunfermline Athletic 4-1 earlier in the day.
The fact that a vastly inexperienced Celtic side out-played Hearts said a lot for the state of the Scottish game.
When the game got under way veterans Tom Boyd and Morten Wieghorst, starting his first league game since contracting Guillain-Barre Syndrome, looked vulnerable.
Celtic went ahead with their first decent move through teenager Lynch in the 12th minute. The youngster seized on Momo Sylla's pass to get away from Scott Severin and then clipped the ball over advancing goalkeeper Antti Niemi before making sure by heading into the empty net.
But the home crowd finally had something to celebrate in the 33rd minute.The Celtic defence were caught ball-watching as Ricardo Fuller ran on to Severin's punt down field and held off the challenge of Wieghorst before firing low past Jonathan Gould.
But the champions replied just three minutes before the break with Lynch scoring his second of the game and third senior goal.
Jamie Smith beat two men on the right and squared for the 19-year-old to tap the ball past Niemi from close range.
And, soon after the restart, the champions increased their lead in glorious fashion.From just to the left of the box, Maloney curled an unstoppable right-foot free-kick past the helpless Niemi.
And Maloney scored his second in the 65th minute as Lynch pulled the ball back from the byline and the youngster hit a first-time shot past the flat-footed Niemi.
Maloney had a great chance to grab his third in the final minute.
Guppy was brought down in the box by Alan Maybury and, after arguing with Lynch over who was going to take the spot-kick and claim a hat-trick, Maloney fired his shot against the upright.
But neither player deserved to out-do the other and all the youngsters went off to a standing ovation from Celtic fans, who might have just seen the stars of the future.
HEARTS: Niemi, Maybury, Severin, Webster, Mahe, Flogel, Tomaschek (Hamill 58), Fulton (Wales 78), Simmons, Fuller, Milne (Kirk 63). Subs Not Used: McKenzie, McCann. Goal: Fuller 33.
CELTIC: Gould, Kennedy, Boyd, Wieghorst, Smith, Sylla, Healy, McNamara, Guppy, Lynch, Maloney. Subs Not Used: Douglas, Thompson, Petrov, Moravcik, McGovern. Booked: Healy. Goals: Lynch 12, 41, Maloney 50, 65.
Referee: J Rowbotham (Scotland).
