A GRAND ENTRANCE FROM BAYO

Forgotten forward makes big impact on his first Celtic start

AMID all the stop-gaps and sticking plasters who arrived at Celtic Park in January, it was easy to forget a considerable sum of money was also invested in the team for the longer-term

Checking in after completing a move from Slovakian side Dunajska Streda, Vakoun Issouf Bayo might well have become another forgotten man of the club had it not been for the small matter of £2million being spent to secure his services.

Bluntly, though, despite enduring a wretched start to his career in Glasgow through injury, there were many within the support for whom he’d already become an afterthought. Not now.

This was the 22-year-old Ivorian’s day all right. Not only did he lay claims to scoring on either side of the interval to belatedly announce his arrival as a Celtic player, he showed pace, panache and power throughout.

Having pondered the need to bring in another forward to assist Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths, Neil Lennon will surely have scored a red pen through one item on his summer shopping list.

For the Celtic manager, this was an impressive, emphatic response to the challenge his players faced following Rangers’ win at St Mirren earlier in the day.

They took some time to get going and, perhaps predictably having got the job done, finished a little sluggishly. But they were irresistible for spells in between and were deserved winners.

If there was an element of doubt as to whether Christophe Berra or Craig Halkett got the final touches as Bayo contested cross balls with them for the first and third goals, there was no dubiety about the identity of the scorer of the second.

Coming 10 minutes after the interval, Callum McGregor’s left-foot piledriver helped to lift the pressure and ensure Celtic remain top of the pile ahead of next Sunday’s mouthwatering clash at Ibrox.

Hearts played commendably here in patches but simply didn’t show enough in the final third. Craig Levein will only be grateful that Conor Washington’s consolation at least prevented them suffering the ignominy of propping up the Premiership table after three rounds of matches.

Fraser Forster was thrown straight in for his Celtic debut second time around, Lennon evidently harbouring no concerns at the keeper having played just one competitive game in 20 months at Southampton. One rush of blood to the head aside, the Englishman was solid.

Equally as eye-catching was the choice of Bayo, selected ahead of both Edouard and Griffiths in what was the Ivorian’s first start for the club.

As well as the personnel, Lennon changed the shape. Ryan Christie was deployed on the right of a flat four-man midfield with James Forrest swapping to the left. Olivier Ntcham played off Bayo in a classic No 10 role.

Glenn Whelan, the veteran Republic of Ireland midfielder, made his bow for a Hearts side temporarily shorn of the ingenuity of Steven Naismith.

Bayo’s first contribution was actually forgettable. Having been released by Nir Bitton’s incisive clip down the right, Kristoffer Ajer gave the striker a decent chance of outrunning Halkett. A cheap handball put paid to that.

With the game struggling to come to life in blistering heat, Hearts were quietly effective in the opening exchanges. Jake Mulraney threatened to give Forster some early work to do but the alert Ajer intervened to clean out a searching ball in behind at the cost of a corner.

Celtic looked more likely to score on the counter attack than when prodding and probing. Ntcham’s smart combination with McGregor opened up the visitors all too easily, with Halkett forced to skid along the turf to deny Bayo a five-yard tap-in.

Hearts proved equally as dogged when defending set-pieces. Bayo’s intelligent spin to the far post allowed him to connect solidly with Christie’s deep corner. Joel Pereira, Hearts’ on-loan Manchester United keeper, palmed his header around the post.

Truthfully, the opening goal on 30 minutes rather came out of the blue. Christie’s wonderful cross-field pass took out Hearts’ centre midfield and released Forrest. The winger rapidly ate up the ground prior to wrapping his left boot around the ball.

On his heels on his six-yard line, Berra was ill-equipped to cope with the whipped delivery and Bayo’s presence. There may have been an element of good fortune about the way the ball bounced off the striker’s frame — or was it the defender’s? — to flummox the Portuguese keeper. But Bayo’s tenacity earned him the break.

It was a mess of a goal from Hearts’ perspective. Not that Celtic cared one iota, of course.

It should have settled Lennon’s men. Instead, Forster picked up an needless booking for clattering Loic Damour just outside his box, the error coming when Christopher Jullien appeared to have done enough to outmuscle the Hearts midfielder.

Jullien did well to beat Berra to a close-range header, with Forster quickly redeeming himself with a smart save to his right to deny Aaron Hickey’s low shot.

Halkett’s defensive positioning was shrewd throughout, although his over-eagerness did earn him a booking for a nip at Scott Brown.

Hearts restarted the sharper of the sides. Sean Clare and Whelan’s slick passing wove a way through the home defence with Washington lifting his head at just the wrong moment. Levein’s side were left to immediately rue that chance.

Forrest, predictably, had a hand in proceedings, his intelligent carrying of the ball allowing Christie to take over and roll in McGregor.

One touch was sufficient to steady himself. A second saw a left-foot strike fizz into the far corner out of Pereira’s reach.

If Hearts were wondering how they were on the ropes having played not at all badly, the answer was quite simple; Celtic were frighteningly clinical.

The third arrived on the hour mark. Ajer was an unlikely provider with a low cross from the right that Forrest would have been proud of.

Bayo was on his toes as he and Halkett contested the cross. Again, there was doubt as to who had the final touch but no one in the home ranks was prepared to take it away from the Celt.

It was only then a question of how many Lennon’s side would win by. Bayo was denied a hat-trick first by an unclean shot as he turned to meet another Ajer delivery and then by the post after he rose to meet Forrest’s centre.

Hearts did register the goal they deserved 10 minutes from time when Brown was second best to a contest with Clare in his own box.

Forster repelled Washington’s initial spot-kick but was still grounded as the striker turned the rebound home.