No hangovers, certainly no cobwebs.

Just a rampant Celtic side itching to exorcise the frustrations of their Champions League woes - which they did and then some.

By the time the half-time whistle sounded at Tynecastle, Celtic - five goals to the good -were already well on the march back to Parkhead.

Hearts, a side who have put up fierce resistance to Celtic throughout the years on their own turf were limp and lifeless, devoid of any hope by the time they reached the sanctuary of the dressing room.

They emerged for the second period meek and cowed - and Celtic showed no mercy. The Parkhead side continued to turn the screw long after the seven goals had become a mere statistical note.

Neil Lennon was thrilled at the manner in which his side bounced back from their midweek Euroean exit.

"If you're looking for Utopia, that first half was probably it," said Lennon. "All five goals were breathtaking. And the performance itself was the best I've seen, certainly in my time as a manager.

"That's what we've been looking for for a few months now, and off the back of what was a disappointing exit in the Champions League. The players have shown what a good team we are.

"They showed remarkable character today to play as strongly as that. Now there are people out there going 'Well, it's only Hearts, young team, blah blah, blah'. It wouldn't have mattered who we played today. I thought we were amazing, absolutely amazing."

Celtic Park will host this season's William Hill Scottish Cup Final in May and, on this evidence, there are few who will live with Neil Lennon's side in the competition.

While suggestions were made beforehand that anything other than a domestic double gives Celtic's season a disappointing hue, there was a ruthlessness about the Parkhead side that underlines just how far ahead they are of the rest in the domestic game.

While their frailties and limitations may have been exposed in this season's demanding European environment, yesterday's rout confirmed how peerless they are in domestic terms. Hearts had no answer to Celtic in a frantic opening half an hour in which the tie was firmly put to bed.

The Parkhead side moved the ball with pace, precision and intelligence. They were creative in the final third and showed a deadliness in front of goal that blew Hearts away.

Charlie Mulgrew, deployed in the central pastures alongside returning captain Scott Brown, orchestrated the speedy downfall of Hearts as he pinged passes and opened spaces up.

Celtic had players in the mood to make the chances count and that hasn't always been the case this season

In Joe Ledley and Kris Commons they had players eager and willing to do damage.

Ledley, who is still in negotiations with the club over a new contract, found the kind of form that has been missing for large chunks of this season and was a danger throughout.

Commons had set the tone for the afternoon when he had Celtic in front with less than three minutes on the clock.

By the time he added his second shortly after the young and inexperienced in the Gorgie side already had the look of a side that were never coming back. Not that Celtic were in the mood to dispense sympathy.

The blows came hard and fast - Scott Brown added a third -the former Hibs midfielder relishing the goal in front of the Hearts support - before Ledley chipped in with a fine fourth and Mikael Lustig lashed home a fifth that cannoned off the bar before bouncing over the line.

By the time Commons had converted from the spot and Brown had bagged a second goal, Hearts had been disabused of any notion Celtic may have been tempted to take it easy in the second period. There was no let-up as the bombardment continued.

Teemu Pukki was introduced into the fray as Mulgrew was given a breather and this in itself perhaps showed up one of the anomalies of the day - for all that Celtic were clinical in front of goal, those who were among the goals highlighted the lack of a prolific striker in the ranks.

Anthony Stokes failed to get his name on the scoreheet and as the game wore on his anxiety showed in one movement in which he ran the length of the park without releasing the ball - only to meet a dead end on the edge of the Hearts penalty area.

It was a minor frustration for the team on a day in which everything went Celtic's way.

Kenny Miller will make the draw this afternoon for the next round and, on this evidence, there will be plenty of Celtic fans looking to be paired against Rangers given the ruthlessness which they displayed yesterday at Tynecastle.