John Hartson bagged his 100th goal for Celtic as they marched back to the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League with a 3-0 win at Falkirk.
The lethal Welshman hit the magic milestone in his 182nd game for the Hoops but by then the points had been wrapped up thanks to man-of-the-match Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady.
Republic of Ireland international winger McGeady had been a frustrated spectator having failed to start since the opening day 4-4 draw at Motherwell. But he sent out a reminder of his undeniable talent and quickly made Celtic forget about the loss of Chris Sutton, in the only change from the victory at Dundee United.
His quick free-kick saw Maloney open the scoring and then they exchanged roles a minute later for McGeady to score before the young Scot played a part in Hartson's record goal.
McGeady made an instant impact by snatching the ball off Andy Lawrie down the left flank and then leaving Neil Scally for dead with a step over and drop of the shoulder. But the youngster failed to pick out Hartson in the centre and Craig Ireland was in the right place at the right time to put the ball behind for a corner.
Falkirk, who had Pedro Moutinho and Alan Gow coming in for Tiago Rodrigues and Craig McPherson, played the ball around well but they had to wait 18 minutes for their first chance when Steven Thomson drove Gow's knock-down wide from 20 yards out.
But they were living dangerously at the back and they needed a timely interception from Stephen O'Donnell to prevent a certain goal moments later when McGeady's cross looked like reaching Shunsuke Nakamura for a certain tap-in at the back post.
Scally came to their rescue soon after when he deflected Hartson's header wide from Nakamura's cross. Hartson was getting no protection or decisions out of Murray despite being floored by a number of fouls from the over-exuberant Falkirk defenders.
Falkirk stood off Nakamura in the 37th minute but the Japanese international failed to punish them by shooting disappointing at Glennon.
The referee sparked outrage in the 40th minute when he booked Darryl Duffy for cutting down McGeady in full flight. But the Celtic youngster's quick thinking piled the misery on the home side when he slid the ball through the gap for Mo Camara down the left flank. The wing-back then fired low into the area and Maloney arrived to sweep the ball past Glennon from 10 yards.
McGeady completed a stunning minute for the visitors when he accepted Maloney's pass in the area before sending the ball low past the Falkirk keeper's hand from 11 yards.
O'Donnell almost got free in the Celtic box a minute into the second half but Stephen McManus prevented him from testing Artur Boruc with a vital tackle.
Falkirk refused to lie down and the Polish goalkeeper was tested by Duffy's 22-yard striker in the 49th minute but he made the save look so easy. Hughes made a change soon after by bringing on Vitor Lima for Moutinho before the substitute drove a right-foot shot wide from 25 yards.
Celtic were knocking the ball around like they would in a training session but they almost found a way through on the hour. Petrov sent Maloney away and his centre looked like it was going to be converted by Hartson but Ireland got back to make a telling tackle.
The Welshman's persistence got him behind the defence moments later but his weak shot was easily saved by Glennon before Petrov fired over.
Hughes made another change in the 72nd minute by introducing John O'Neil for O'Donnell before Hartson did hit the ton for the Hoops. Glennon did well to save Maloney's powerful strike but it fell to his strike partner to send the keeper the wrong way from close range.
The marksman was quickly surrounded by his joyous team-mates and then saluted the travelling supporters, who sang his name.
Hartson fired just wide moments later before Stephen Pearson came on for Petrov. The Scotland international could have arrived in style in the 80th minute but he blasted wide from another Maloney pass.
Hartson and Maloney were given a standing ovation having been replaced by Ross Wallace and Adam Virgo with eight minutes remaining as the Celtic fans celebrated yet another victory.
