Celtic narrowed the gap to Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership to seven points with a deserved home win over struggling Kilmarnock.
Goals from Johnny Kenny, Kieran Tierney, Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels secured all three points for Martin O’Neill’s side, who have played a game fewer than the Tynecastle outfit.
Hearts were held 1-1 at home against Dundee United earlier on Sunday, providing the chance for Celtic to eat into the deficit.
Off the back of a disappointing display against Midtjylland in Denmark on Thursday in the Europa League, interim boss O’Neill made several changes to his starting line-up, including a debut for defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
And the defending Premiership champions started brightly back in front of their own fans, as Maeda blazed over the bar and Kenny struck the base of the post with a powerful low shot.
Moments later, Kenny had his goal, courtesy of some dreadful Kilmarnock defending.
Robbie Deas tripped over his own feet attempting to clear, allowing Reo Hatate to nip in and square it to the Irish striker, who had a tap-in.
Sebastian Tounekti, Kenny and Luke McCowan all went close for Celtic before half-time, but Kilmarnock could have levelled when Bruce Anderson rattled the crossbar with a powerful left-footed strike.
