Larsson's sweet artistry heightens sorrow of parting

Martin O'Neill may be staying at Celtic for the foreseeable future, but it is the departure of Henrik Larsson that will be mourned the more when he does go.

Europe's most accomplished goalscorer has vowed to return home to Sweden when his contract runs out in 18 months' time, and his contribution yesterday in helping Celtic progress to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup underlined that he will be far harder to replace than the manager.

St Mirren frustrated last season's beaten finalists until Larsson conjured two goals in eight minutes early in the second half. It brought Larsson's tally for the season to 32 – on course to repeat his Golden Boot achievement of 2001 – but no matter how often he does it, it is never taken for granted by those who idolise him.

O'Neill enjoys a similar status, and his decision in midweek to sign a new rolling one-year contract will keep him out of predatory hands in England at least until the end of next season. His act received warm applause yesterday.

St Mirren's last visit to Parkhead could scarcely have been in more different circumstances. There was not a spare seat in the house on 7 April 2001 as Celtic sealed the Scottish Premier League Championship, their first honour under O'Neill's brief influence.

Yesterday there were plenty, yet while the gathering was far short of the 60,000 capacity, it was no doubt heartening to St Mirren's treasurer. The Paisley club have been immersed in debt since sliding out of the top flight two years ago.

Had they shown the same stubborn resistance then that they displayed here, then relegation might never have happened. The First Division side's fierce tackling hustled Celtic out of their rhythm and Chris Sutton had to depart before the half-hour after Greig Denham scythed him down.

Ricky Gillies was a driving force in midfield for Saints, forcing Alan Thompson crudely to halt his run on goal, and when the trickery of Junior Mendes won a corner in front of the 4,000 visiting fans, the roar punctured the Parkhead silence.

Celtic, though, were far from dormant. Before departing, Sutton saw his header pushed over the bar by Ludovic Roy and when the goalkeeper was beaten, as he was by Colin Healy's 23rd-minute shot, the post came to his rescue. Roy's heroics matched the intensity of Celtic's pressure. The French goalkeeper superbly saved at the feet of Larsson before denying Thompson eight minutes before the interval with a sprawling save.

Roy's resistance, however, was broken just three minutes into the second half. A flowing move down the right flank saw David Fernandez, who had replaced Sutton, steer a pass into the path of Larsson, and the prolific striker chipped a deft right-foot half-volley over the goalkeeper to a roar of relief around the stadium.

Fernandez has had to survive on a limited ration of appearances since his £1.25 million move from Livingston during the summer and was clearly enjoying his unexpected outing. The Spaniard's undoubted skill was in evidence a few minutes later with a curling left-foot shot that shaved the far post.

Fernandez's artistry finally found its reward when he created Larsson's second goal. The substitute's skill was matched by his vision as he picked out the sweet spot with a cut-back, allowing Larsson to sweep a left-foot shot beyond Roy from the edge of the box.

Now that the possibility of any potential slip-up had been put to rest, Celtic found the confidence to cut loose. Jamie Smith almost added another goal after his pace carved St Mirren apart, but it was another of O'Neill's youngsters who ensured the comfort zone.

Shaun Maloney had replaced Thompson in the 66th minute and needed only four minutes to make an impact. The teenager showed wisdom beyond his years by controlling a diagonal ball from Jackie McNamara and unselfishly laying the ball into the path of Momo Sylla, who put an ungainly finish past Roy.