Henrik Larsson grabbed his second Parkhead hat-trick on successive Saturdays
as Celtic demolished Dunfermline to move comfortably into the Tennent's Scottish
Cup fifth round this afternoon.
The dreadlocked Swede struck all three inside a devastating 15-minute spell
before the interval that also featured a fourth for Norwegian striker Harald
Brattbakk.
Already lauded by his coach Jozef Venglos as one of the finest players in
Europe after his treble against Hearts last week, Larsson today plundered goals
number 24, 25 and 26 of a highly productive season. The trio of strikes killed
the tie as a contest and ended any hope Dunfermline had of avoiding another
heavy defeat after two 5-0 reverses at Parkhead in the Premier League already
this term.
While they still trail Rangers by 13 points in the contest to hold onto that
title, Celtic's hopes of picking up some silverware in this tournament look good
with Larsson in this kind of form. Strangely though, it was Dunfermline who had
the better of the opening skirmishes, capitalising on early hesitation at the
heart of a Celtic defence missing Alan Stubbs an ankle injury and captain Tom
Boyd with a chest infection.
Norwegian Vidar Riseth found himself shifted into defence as one of three
centre backs alongside Johan Mjallby and Stephane Mahe, with Tosh McKinlay
enjoying his first start for three months on the left flank. There was also a
welcome return for wing-back Jackie McNamara on the right after a long injury
lay-off, and the Scotland international's creative awareness proved invaluable.
After Pars left-back Stewart Petrie had shot tamely at Jonathan Gould when
well placed in the opening moments and Andy Tod's header from a corner forced
the Scotland keeper into a smart save, it all fell apart for the visitors after
27 minutes.
McKinlay, with room to work in down the left, delivered a pin-point cross and
Larsson, stealing clear of his markers, arrowed a downward header past Lee
Butler into the right corner. Five minutes later they had doubled their
advantage, albeit fortuitously, when Andy Tod was adjudged to have impeded
McNamara inside the box.
Referee Eric Martindale had no hesitation in pointing to the spot however, and
Larsson smashed the penalty low and hard for his second of the afternoon.
Celtic's confidence visibly lifted and they added two more before the break.
Larsson's deft lay-off first allowed Brattbakk to plant a low 18-yard drive past
Butler's despairing dive into the bottom right corner after 39 minutes. Then the
Swede grabbed goal number 26 of the season to complete his hat-trick when he
took McNamara's pass in his stride and sent a superb left-foot chip over the
Pars keeper from the edge of the box.
Mjllby and Moravcik had both found their way into Martindale's book in the
first half for fouls along with Petrie and Tod for the visitors. Midfielder Phil
O'Donnell was forced to depart the action after just three minutes of the second
period - to be replaced by Regi Blinker - but the change failed to disrupt
Celtic's rhythm.
McNamara's 25-yard piledriver flew narrowly over, while Moravcik and Larsson
both came close to adding a fifth.
Dunfermline striker David Graham did force Gould into a parry at the other
end, while George Shaw squandered a golden opportunity for minor consolation
when he ballooned the ball over from inside the six-yard box.
Pars boss Dick Campbell sent on Richard Huxford and youngster Colin Nish in a
bid to salvage something from the game, but the chasm in class was only
highlighted further when Larsson strolled off to the acclaim of the crowd after
68 minutes, his afternoon's work done.
McNamara then somehow contrived not to score when clean through on Butler's
goal, allowing the keeper to save his weak toe-poked effort from eight yards
out. Andy Smith went close with a header at the other end, but the stage was set
for a third successive 5-0 triumph when Larsson's replacement Mark Burchill was
felled inside the box in the final minute.
Brattbakk managed to side-foot the penalty wide however for Dunfermline's only
consolation of the afternoon.
Teams:
Celtic: Gould, Mjallby, Riseth, Mahe, McNamara, Lambert,
Moravcik, O'Donnell (Blinker 48), McKinlay, Brattbakk,Larsson (Burchill 68).
Subs Not Used: Kerr.
Booked: Mjallby, Moravcik.
Goals: Larsson 26, 31 pen, Brattbakk 38, Larsson 41.
Dunfermline: Butler, Shields, Tod, Millar (McGroaty 79), Thomson,
French, Ferguson (Huxford 65), Petrie, Graham, Smith,Shaw (Nish 66).
Booked: Tod, Petrie.
Att: 47,194
Ref: E Martindale (Glasgow).
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