Larsson quiet as Hoops hammer Swedes

Celtic’s tour of Sweden began with a magnificent seven goals but none of them came from the man famous for wearing that number on his back at Parkhead, Henrik Larsson.

Larsson may have had a rare scoreless day but overall the Hoops had little difficulty overcoming amateur opponents who were made up of players from two tiny village sides, fourth division Kungshamn and fifth division Smogens.

Giant defender Stanislav Varga, who has been offered a new deal, opened the scoring and additions from Steve Guppy and Chris Sutton made it 3-0 at half-time.

The Hoops made nine changes at the break and completed a gentle work-out with a penalty from Stilian Petrov, two strikes from the forgotten man of last season David Fernandez and youngster Ross Wallace.

Manager Martin O’Neill was not there to witness it however as he had remained in the UK to undergo a minor operation.

O’Neill’s absence may have been the reason why Celtic switched from the 3-5-2 system the Northern Irishman favours to play 4-4-2, with Stephen Crainey starting on the left side of defence and Jackie McNamara on the opposite flank.

Larsson is the biggest footballing superstar in his homeland and his arrival in tiny Kungshamn, which has a population of just 5,000, had been much anticipated.

Fellow Sweden international Magnus Hedman was another starter but both local heroes ended up playing just the first half and only the unsettled Crainey, who may have to move to rekindle his international career for Scotland, completed the 90 minutes.

Larsson almost gave the 4,700 crowd what they wanted as early as the second minute when he headed a Jamie Smith corner just over but those present only had another 10 minutes to wait before Varga rose to convert an Alan Thompson delivery.

Guppy made it 2-0 a minute later after a Larsson shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and when another Larsson effort was blocked, Sutton’s follow-up hit the crossbar.

But seven minutes before the break Sutton did find the net and there was still time before the break for Neil Lennon to thump a 30-yard drive off the crossbar.

Wallace and fellow rookie Craig Beattie were given chances after the restart and the match also marked a return to action of 22-year-old goalkeeper Barry-John Corr, who had been sidelined for two years with a back injury.

Beattie, who has just signed a new contract, was the next to assault the woodwork when he hit a post but acting captain Petrov made it 4-0 from the penalty spot just before the hour mark after Smith had been brought down.

Fernandez then netted twice either side of a curler from Wallace, which represented his first strike for the senior side and completed the rout.