Heart of Midlothian (0) 0 Celtic (1) 2

As for strengthening his team in the transfer window, O'Neill was not so forthcoming. "We'll just have to wait and see," was his reply, but what all can see is a thin and ageing squad. If Celtic are to retain the Premier League title they must freshen up.

As for Hearts, only time will tell what the future holds, but at least some issues may be resolved fairly soon. The AGM on Jan 10 should clear up some of the confusion surrounding Lithuanian Vladimir Romanov and whose shares he can and cannot buy. What might take longer to decide is whether the club stay or move from Tynecastle.

As far as the fans are concerned, there is only one option – stay. And certainly, there is no other venue quite like Tynecastle for spicing up an Old Firm visit.

Yesterday was no exception, even if Celtic did their best to tame the Tynecastle intimidation with an early goal. What simplicity began, sophistication ended. Stilian Petrov made tracks down the right before crossing low and hard. Aiden McGeady twisted to turn the ball inside the far post from an angle which looked geometrically impossible.

The second came after 69 minutes. For the umpteenth time, Chris Sutton won the ball in the air and Petrov steered the ball into Craig Gordon's top right corner.

"We worked well but Celtic played well, and that was the difference," remarked Hearts manager John Robertson.

Match Details

Hearts (4-4-2): Gordon; Maybury, Neilson, Pressley, McKenna; McAllister (Weir 73), Stamp, Stewart (MacFarlane 12), Hartley; De Vries, Wyness (Hamill 57). Subs: Moilanen (g), Berra, Janczyk, Pereira. Booked: Pressley, De Vries, Weir.

Celtic (4-4-2): Douglas; McNamara, Laursen, Balde, Varga; McGeady, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson; Hartson, Sutton. Subs: Marshall (g), Camara, Juninho, Lambert, McManus, Maloney, Wallace. Goals: McGeady (9), Petrov (69). Booked: Hartson.

Referee: M McCurry.