Celtic 5-0 Heart of Midlothian
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Five goals from Garry Hooper condemned Hearts to a heavy 5-0 defeat against Celtic on Sunday, but results elsewhere meant the Jambos still secured a place in Europe next season.

Two quick fire strikes from Hooper put the hosts two goals up inside ten minutes, and the Englishman sealed his hat-trick shortly before the interval.

A further strike midway through the second half put the tie to bed, before he completed his five goal rout with a close range tap in minutes from time.

With under a week to go until the big final at Hampden, Paulo Sergio took the opportunity to rotate his squad ahead of the final league outing of the season at Celtic Park. A total of seven changes were made, including the return of Jamie MacDonald in goal.

Long term injury absentee Adrian Mrowiec , in what could well be his last game for the club, was handed a spot in central midfield alongside Mehdi Taouil and Scott Robinson. David Templeton, meanwhile, was given a much needed start as he looks to force his way into the first eleven at Hampden next Saturday.

Mrowiec's lack of match sharpness showed within the first minute as he carelessly lost the ball in his own half, allowing Garry Hooper to charge down on goal. The Englishman's run dragged him wide, however, and MacDonald blocked his shot on the near post.

Celtic proved to be more clinical minutes later, as a poor clearance allowed Kris Commons to fire a snapshot at MacDonald. The keeper saved but the ball trickled into the path of Hooper who slotted the ball home from close range to give the hosts the lead.

Hooper was on hand again four minutes later after a burst of pace enabled Georgios Samaras to get away from Marius Zaliukas. With only MacDonald to beat he squared the ball for Hooper who calmly swept the ball into the back of the net.

Hearts were all at sea at this stage, with gaps appearing all over the park which Celtic were all too happy to exploit. Their relentless pressure eventually subdued, but Hearts were unable to offer much attacking play of their own.

Sergio then made his first change after just 25 minutes as Mehdi Taouil was taken off as a precaution; Denis Prychynenko his replacement.

Just as Hearts looked to be gaining some sort of attacking momentum, however, Celtic grabbed their third.

Arvydas Novikovas tripped Joe Ledley on the left the side of the box and referee Alan Muir had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Hooper duly stepped up and hammered his penalty straight down the middle to complete his hat-trick.

Sergio made a half time change as Jason Holt, another product of the Hearts youth academy, replaced Novikovas. Mrowiec subsequently dropped back to form a three man defence, with McGowan and Grainger operating as wing backs.

Lennon's men continued where they left off in the first half, with an in-swinging Kris Commons free kick looking certain to find the head of Samaras only for the striker to duck away with the goal at his mercy.

Hearts then registered their first attempt on goal just before the hour mark as Templeton cut inside from the left before curling a ball inches wide of Fraser Forster's far post.

The Gorgie side were able to string a few moves together on respective flanks, but rarely looked like troubling Celtic with the final ball all too often lacking.

The home side, however, were never far away and duly put the tie to bed midway through the half. Zaliukas failed to deal with a Commons through ball; inadvertently playing Hooper through clean on goal. The striker, having already secured his hat-trick, calmly rounded MacDonald before slotting home from a couple of yards out.

The goal killed off any hopes of a Maroon fight back, although the Jambos did continue to push forward but ultimately found it increasingly difficult to trouble the Celtic rear guard.

The home side were comfortably keeping possession throughout, and began to pick holes in the Hearts defence as the tie entered the final stages.

Sergio then made his final change of the afternoon, no doubt with one eye on the Cup Final, as he replaced Webster with Darren Barr.

With the clock ticking down, however, Celtic found time for a fifth goal; yet again courtesy of Hooper as he latched on to a through ball before guiding it into the bottom left corner for his fifth of the game.

It capped off a miserable final game of the season for the Jambos but, thanks to Rangers defeating St Johnstone, Sergio's men could head back along the M8 safe in the knowledge that fifth place and Europa League football had been secured.

They now face a week of preparation for the biggest Edinburgh derby of all time. All roads lead to Hampden.

Hearts: MacDonald; McGowan, Webster (Barr 82), Zaliukas, Grainger; Robinson, Mrowiec, Taouil (Prychynenko 24); Novikovas (Holt 45), Glen, Templeton. Subs not used: Ridgers, Suso, Driver, Skacel.

Celtic: Forster; Matthews, Loovens, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Brown (Kayal 66), Wanyama, Ledley (McCourt 68), Commons (Stokes 80); Samaras, Hooper. Subs not used: Zaluska, Cha, Lustig, F.Twardzik.

Referee: Alan Muir

Top man: Ryan McGowan

Hearts World