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Kasper Høgh scored a hat-trick, his first goals for Celtic, as the Scottish champions made light of the absence of their manager Martin O’Neill with a 5-1 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
Victory made it two wins out of two Premiership games for Celtic, with 74-year-old boss O’Neill missing the trip to Rugby Park after what the club had said earlier this week was a “small procedure” in hospital.
No details were given about O’Neill’s operation, which came after the veteran Northern Irish manager took charge of Celtic’s win against Dundee in their first game of the season. But the club’s assistant manager, Shaun Maloney, speaking before Sunday’s kick-off, said O’Neill was on the mend.
“He is doing better again,” Maloney told Sky Sports. “He came to the team hotel and spoke to the players but he just needs an extra few days.”
O’Neill’s mood would doubtless have been improved by the performance of his side, with Celtic 3-0 ahead before half-time thanks to Høgh. The Danish striker, who joined in July from Bodø/Glimt, needed less than a minute to score his first Celtic goal, heading in at the back post from a cross by Arne Engels.
Høgh doubled Celtic’s lead in the 33rd minute, with Camilo Durán seizing on Johnly Yfeko’s pass out of defence. He combined with Benjamin Nygren to work the ball to Høgh on the left edge of the box, with the forward finishing well.
Two minutes later, Høgh had his hat-trick. Nygren slipping the ball right for Durán, whose cross took the Kilmarnock goalkeeper Max Stryjek out of play, with Høgh nodding into an empty net.
Celtic extended their lead early in the second half after they were effectively gifted a fourth goal by Stryjek. His pass out of defence went straight to Nygren in front of goal and his shot into the top corner made it 4-0.
Michael Schjønning-Larsen pulled a goal back for Kilmarnock in the 56th minute after finishing a well-worked move. But Celtic went four goals ahead again when Luke McCowan, moments after coming on, volleyed in from close range 15 minutes from time after Kilmarnock made a mess of trying to clear the ball from a corner.
Three Hearts summer signings were on target as Wouter Vrancken belatedly got his reign up and running with an emphatic 4-0 win over Dundee United. The Belgian had suffered four consecutive defeats – three in Europe – since replacing Derek McInnes in June, but his new-look team tore United apart in their first home league game of the season.
Tom Renaud, Calvin Miller and Josh McPake all marked their first league outings at Tynecastle with goals, while last season’s talisman Claudio Braga broke his duck for the campaign.
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The Jambos made a fast start as Renaud, a few days after notching against Benfica, unleashed a ferocious strike beyond Jack Walton from just short of 30 yards after being teed up by Braga in the fourth minute.
Hearts were gifted the chance to double their lead when VAR spotted Daniel Bennie wrestling Jamie McCart to the ground in the box. Miller stepped up to fire the penalty straight down the middle.
Hearts killed off any hopes of a United fightback in the 56th minute when Braga drilled in a low angled shot from 12 yards out after being set up by Sabah Kerjota. McPake then marked his first competitive start for the Jambos with his first goal as he tucked a clinical low finish beyond Walton after playing a one-two with Braga on the left of the box.
In Sunday’s other 3pm kick-off, Motherwell drew 0-0 at home to Falkirk. Rangers’s encounter with Hibernian at Ibrox kicked off an hour later.
