Celtic tonight unfurled the championship flag and then signalled their intentions to keep it flying proudly over Parkhead for some time yet with a convincing 3-0 win over St Johnstone. Johan Mjallby headed a first-half opener and a stunning double from Paul Lambert after the break gave Martin O'Neill's Bhoys a winning start to the defence of their Premier League title.
In fact they should have taken the lead in the first minute after a good flowing move which involved four Celtic players. Neil Lennon found Larsson down the right and he laid the ball off to Alan Thompson, who swung in a dangerous cross into the far post, but Johan Mjallby blazed his header just wide of the post.
The first-half was proving to be a good advertisement for the rest of the SPL campaign and Sutton almost produced a glorious 33rd-minute opener with a long-range effort which Main could only parry. But just four minutes later the Celtic supporters had something to celebrate when Mjallby became the unlikely goalscorer. Thompson's crossfield ball found Petta and the Dutchman's centre was headed emphatically into the net by the Swede.
Celtic continued to heap pressure on the visitors after the restart and it was Larsson again, who turned provider. The Swede exchanged passes with Lambert to send the midfielder clean through on goal and he made no mistake to slide the ball home under the advancing Main.
St Johnstone were desperately trying to cling on at this point, but they found themselves dead and buried in the 72nd minute after a glorious strike from Lambert. The midfielder chested down Didier Agathe's throw-in and let fly with a swerving left-foot shot which flew into the top corner for his second of the new season.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
