Celtic 4-1 Heart of Midlothian

Leigh Griffiths grabbed a double as Celtic kicked off their Premiership title defence with a rout of Hearts.

The Scotland striker opened the scoring with a neat right-foot finish following a simple through ball from Nir Bitton.

Scott Sinclair capitalised on dreadful defending from Aaron Hughes to tap in the second before Griffiths headed home to finish an excellent move.

Callum McGregor drilled in the fourth before Isma Goncalves smashed in Hearts' consolation at the near post.

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The visitors, with Jon Daly in interim charge following the sacking of head coach Ian Cathro, showed positive signs in the early stages.

Griffiths knocked home the opener after Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton made an initial block

They showed a whole lot more aggression than they did in the limp League Cup performances against Peterhead and Dunfermline that sealed Cathro's fate, but hard work guarantees you nothing when you come to the home of the champions.

For 20 minutes, the visitors looked at ease. They were defending well, had loads of bite in midfield and in the young winger Lewis Moore they had a player who looked like he could create something given the chance.

Celtic turned the heat up thereafter, though. Jack Hamilton had to parry away a Griffiths shot and only smart defending from Christophe Berra stopped McGregor from turning in the loose ball. Griffiths had another chance soon after. And then another.

This time he put it away after a ball from the back from Bitton was seized on by the striker. Hearts tried to play offside but Rafal Grzelak was caught out, not for the first time. Griffiths went through and scored at the second attempt.

Scott Sinclair was left with a simple finish after sloppy play from Hearts defender Aaron Hughes

The rest of it was easy for Celtic and a bit of a grind for Hearts. Kyle Lafferty went in the book, so did Michael Smith. Lafferty was fortunate not to get a second yellow later on. He was replaced with 20 minutes to go.

Celtic created more chances with Griffiths being denied by Berra, Forrest being frustrated by Hamilton and, the best opportunity of all, McGregor pulling a shot across the goal and wide after a cheeky Scott Brown back-heel opened up the Hearts defence.

The visitors had a brief flurry at the start of the new half. Berra should have done better with a close-range header from a corner.

Once that chance went begging, Celtic took ownership again, kicking on to build their lead. Sinclair tapped in from a few yards out after Hughes failed to deal with a Celtic corner.

The third arrived soon after. Brown put the excellent McGregor away down the right and he crossed for Griffiths. The striker's diving header increased Hearts' woes. The fact that McGregor looked marginally offside when he took Brown's pass would not have done much to lift their mood either.

Callum McGregor capped a fine display with a cracking drive

McGregor got the fourth - just reward for a Celtic player who does not get the attention of some others around him in that midfield. Sinclair drove hard at a retreating Hearts defence and slipped a pass to McGregor, who promptly thumped a shot straight and true, right over Hamilton's head and into his net.

The competition for places in that Celtic midfield is cut-throat now. Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic and Jonny Hayes all started on the bench as Brendan Rodgers' team sent out a crystal-clear message to those living in hope of being the first team to beat them domestically.

That is going to be as difficult this season as it was last season. For Hearts, in their most turbulent week since exiting administration, it proved impossible.

Goncalves' late strike, as he brushed off Jozo Simunovic and beat Craig Gordon at his near post, was all they had to show for their toil.

Scott Brown brought out the Premiership trophy and raised the Championship flag before kick-off