John Greechan

Controlled, composed and clear-cut. Celtic strolled past Hearts with consummate ease at Tynecastle, a ground where teams normally have to work for victory, regardless of form and fortune.

The SPL champions were not required to hit their most sparkling form in order to dispose of the Edinburgh side, who played almost the entire second half a man down following the dismissal of Marius Zaliukas.

As preparation for the visit of the world's biggest, best and most talent-laden club on Wednesday night, and in the absence of domestic opposition who might replicate the style of the Champions League winners, this was about as much as Celtic could hope for.

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shaun maloney

Breakthrough: Maloney celebrates his opener with Hartley (right) and Caldwell (left)

Powered by a midfield unit in which Barry Robson was the most effective creative and destructive weapon, the visitors were 2-0 up after 20 minutes and on their way back to the SPL summit.

A quite sublime strike by Shaun Maloney and a much less spectacular close-range effort from Gary Caldwell did the damage, establishing a cushion that even allowed former Gorgie great Paul Hartley to miss a penalty early in the second half.

A Hearts team reduced to 10 men in the aftermath of that penalty award, Zaliukas shown a straight red for hauling down Scott McDonald, fought hard and gave their very best throughout.

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But they never looked like breaking out of their horrendous slump, as a fifth straight game without a win left home fans wondering if Csaba Laszlo - the latest to hold the temporary post of head coach at Hearts - is all talk.

They must now brace themselves for a long, hard slog just to make the top six, while Celtic look forward, however briefly, to the remainder of their Champions League campaign.

Strachan's rotation policy was again put into practice, with both Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura - certain starters against Manchester United, surely - kept in reserve on the bench.

In a team showing four changes from the midweek Co-operative Insurance Cup win over Kilmarnock, captain Stephen McManus returning to the heart of defence would have been the most encouraging aspect for Celtic fans.

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gary caldwell

They all count: Caldwell (second right) squeezes in Celtic's second

With young Cillian Sheridan partnering Scott McDonald up front, Gordon Strachan's side arrived at Tynecastle boasting more firepower than anything Hearts could muster; no one was holding their breath in anticipation of lone striker Christian Nade finally scoring a goal on his 11th outing of the season.

The home team, without Laryea Kingston but with Deividas Cesnauskis back in the starting line-up after injury problems, came into this match with nothing in the way of form, having won just once since August.

Their chances of improving on that record took a serious blow with just seven minutes gone, thanks to the sublime skills of Maloney - and the rashness of Michael Stewart.

There was no need for the Hearts midfielder to go barging in on Robson just inside the Hearts half. But he did, conceding a free-kick in the process.

Andreas Hinkel's delivery was decent, Janos Balogh's punch hardly awful - but it fell just nicely for Maloney 25 yards out, the Scotland attacker catching the ball on the bounce with a sweet, sweet strike.

Hearts briefly stirred themselves into a response to that early slap -down, throwing the ball forward and sending bodies up in pursuit.

But the best they had to show for their efforts was a handball claim after Bruno Aguiar's free-kick hit the Celtic wall.

Speaking of handball shouts, the Hearts players definitely felt that Caldwell had committed an offence just before bundling the ball past Balogh for Celtic's second.

As with the opener, this goal was the result of a set-piece, one-time local hero Hartley's corner flicked on by Robson for McDonald to connect with a point-blank header.

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Paul Hartley

Spot of bother: Hartley misses a penalty against his former employers

Balogh saved brilliantly but the ball fell awkwardly to Caldwell, whose attempt to control saw it flick up off his arm before he could bundle it home.

Ball played man or the other way around? Accidental contact or an obvious attempt to control the ball? Neither referee Craig Thomson nor his assistants saw any reason to deny the former Hibs captain his moment of Tynecastle glory.

Celtic always possessed the greater collective and individual talents, allied to a work rate that could not be faulted.

Although Hearts still managed to win some scraps, they created only minor breaches in the Celtic defence.

An Andy Driver free-kick curled just the wrong side of the post, while McManus had to be sharp to deny Aguiar after a knockdown by Cesnauskis, who wouldn't last the half before being replaced by Saulius Mikoliunas.

As it was, Caldwell had a chance to double his personal tally just before half-time, pulling a shot wide after peeling off cutely to receive a short free-kick.

Celtic did not have overly long to wait for an even more inviting opportunity to go 3-0 up.

Sheridan sent a dangerous flick-on behind the Hearts defence, allowing McDonald to get the wrong side of Zaliukas, who clumsily hauled down the Australian strike.

Off went the Lithuanian centre-half, up stepped Hartley … and wide went his spot kick.

Hearts performed as 10-man teams often do, raising their tempo and looking to punish any complacency on Celtic's part, but they ran out of steam.

Celtic ended the game knocking the ball about, throwing on fringe players - and looking ahead to bigger, more demanding, more attractive challenges to come.