Jambos on verge of Champions League

When Roman Bednar made it 3-0 after the interval, there was no way back for Gordon Strachan's champions.

The Gorgie men are four points ahead of Rangers and a victory over Aberdeen on Wednesday will see them clinch second place.

Indeed, if the Ibrox men fail to beat Hibernian the night before, the Edinburgh men will book their place in Europe's premier club tournament for the first time.

And on this performance it would be churlish to suggest the Jambos do not deserve their rewards.

In an incredible start to the game, the visitors should have taken the lead after just two minutes - but instead found themselves two goals behind soon after.

A high, looping free-kick from Shunsuke Nakamura was met at the back post by Stanislav Varga and after the ball bounced about the penalty area, Dion Dublin prodded it through to the unmarked McManus.

The Celtic stopper was 10 yards out with only goalkeeper Craig Gordon to beat but the effort was weak and the Scotland number one dived to his left to make the save.

To add insult to injury, the home side took the lead in the seventh minute - and McManus was the culprit with an own goal.

Hartley whipped in a free-kick from wide on the left into the Celtic penalty area - and the Hoops' defender could only stretch and skim his header from 14 yards past helpless goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

Two minutes later there was bedlam inside Tynecastle when the Gorgie men doubled their lead.

A clumsy Varga challenge on Jambos' striker Roman Bednar 25 yards from goal was punished with a free-kick and Hartley capitalised on a moment's hesitancy as the champions set up their defensive wall - curling a wonderful shot past Boruc.

The Glasgow giants were in tatters. Moments later, after Parkhead captain Neil Lennon was robbed on the centre line, Rudi Skacel drove into the Hoops' penalty area, avoided a couple of weak challenges and then hammered a powerful shot which cannoned off Boruc's left-hand post, rebounding to safety.

The visitors had the comfort of knowing they had recovered a two-goal deficit at Tynecastle on New Year's Day but although they were providing enough problems going forward, their defence promised the loss of more goals.

Despite some interesting link-up play Celtic could not get the goal to bring them back into the game.

And in the 40th minute, a terrific cut-back across the Hoops' six-yard box from wide on the left by midfielder Deividas Cesnauskis found no takers and the ball tantalisingly skipped out of the other end of the penalty area.

The game resumed its frantic pattern after the restart - and Celtic could have reduced the deficit in the 50th minute.

When slack play by Ibrahim Tall allowed Maciej Zurawski to rob the Senegalese defender at the edge of the Gorgie side's penalty area and fire in an angled shot from 16 yards which Gordon did well to push over the bar for a corner.

Hearts survived the set-piece but the warning signs were there and it was the champions who began to boss the game, probing down both flanks and through the middle in order to kick-start their comeback.

However, when Lennon needlessly conceded a free-kick 30 yards out by challenging Skacel while the ball was elsewhere, the Czech midfielder fired in a shot which Boruc handled comfortably.

Then Hartley let Celtic off the hook when he missed a low Bednar cross completely from 14 yards out.

But the Gorgie men moved into a three-goal lead in the 63rd minute when they all too easily sliced open the visiting defence.

Cesnauskis found Hartley who in turn sent Bednar clear of the Hoops' square back four - and the Czech striker took a few strides before coolly curling his right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area past Boruc.

Hearts were never going to relinquish this impressive lead and although they slowed the pace down in the final stages, they retained an element of threat in attack.

The Celtic players continued to push forward but struggled to shrug off the notion that they were just looking forward to the final whistle.

In the 87th minute however, Hoops' substitute Stilian Petrov - who replaced Lennon earlier - forced Gordon into a wonderful save with a close-range drive which was tipped over for a corner.

But it was simply not Celtic's day.