Martin O'Neill's team selection raised a few eyebrows. Many fans, including myself, thought a virtual reserve team would be fielded, with Barcelona in mind, but O'Neill fielded what could possibly be described as his strongest available team.
David Marshall kept his place in goals, and if he continues his form, I see no reason for Rab Douglas to be brought back in. Stephen McManus made his first team debut, albei out of regular position at left-back, he was joined by Bobo Balde, Jackie McNamara and the ever-impressive John Kennedy in defence. The midfield was made up of Neil Lennon, Didier Agathe, Stan Petrov, Stephen Pearson and Paul Lambert. Henrik Larsson was played as a lone striker.
There were a few notable empty seats in the Celtic end, possibly due to traffic congestion in Edinburgh, but it looks clear that many Celtic fans are fed up paying £24 for a Hibs ticket.
Celtic started brightly, and weathered the early Hibs storm. Scott Brown was showing his talents as a footballer, rather than a wannabe hardman, and looked to be weaving his way through the Celtic midfield. He, along with his team-mates, couldn't find a way past the Celtic defence.
Neil Lennon found himself lucky, when a kick at Scott Brown was missed by referee Dougie McDonald. If it had been spotted, Lennon could have found himself sent off and Hibs would surely have had a penalty.
Celtic took the lead on 17 minutes, when a great cross by young McManus was well reached by the outstreched foot of Didier Agathe. Agathe's shot hit the inside of the net and trickled over the goal-line to put The Bhoys in front.
Stan Petrov was doing well supporting Henrik Larsson up-front, and missed two good chances to finish the game before half-time.
Larsson was making a nuisance of himself up-front, and his persistence payed off in 34 minutes, as he chased down what many players would consider a lost cause, to nick the ball from Hibs' 'keeper Andersson's awaiting arms. Larsson placed the ball into the empty Hibs net, and Celts were 2-0 up at half time.
There were no substitutions at the interval, but Celtic continued to play some good looking football in the second period. It wasn't long before Larsson doubled his tally for the day.
Neil Lennon - so often the unnoticed creator of Celtic chances - sent a through ball to The King, who drew out Andersson. The SuperSwede neatly stuck the ball into the Hibs goal, going through the goalkeeper's legs on the way there. Larsson is now Celtic's third all time top goalscorer. The man is a true Legend.
As the clock ticked down, Hibs' youngsters began to lose the place a bit, and their aggressive nature shone through. Not that it worried Celtic though, who proceeded to attack the Hibs goal.
Larsson, Lennon and Lambert were replaced with Beattie, Mjallby and Smith.
Didier Agathe put Celtic four up with nine minutes remaining, and the Hibs fans who turned up joined the glory-hunters from last week's cup final in the pub. We wondered where the 40,000 flag wavers were today, perhaps they are still stuck in traffic coming back from the National Stadium?
Hibs defender Jonathon Baillie was sent off in the closing stages for a stupid headbutt on Craig Beattie's stomach, compiling Hibs' misery.
Today, we came through what promised to be a hard game with ease. Thankfully, no injuries were picked up and the word is that Chris Sutton is getting better, and Stan Varga is improving. I'm off to get my Spanish phrasebook. Does anyone know the Spanish for nineteen points clear?
Celtic:
Marshall - 8
Balde - 8
Kennedy - 9
McManus - 8
McNamara - 7
Pearson - 9
Petrov - 8
Lennon - 7 (Mjallby - 6)
Lambert - 7 (Smith - 7)
Agathe - 7
Larsson - 9 (Beattie - 6)
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Henrik Larsson
Celtic-Mad Moment to Remember: Singing "You're shite and you know you are" to the Hibs fans.
Celtic-Mad Moment to Forget: The late sending off of Baillie, another Hibs youngster trying to make a name for himself.