IN ALL likelihood, Barcelona fans won't be too concerned about singling out Celtic keeper Artur Boruc for abuse in the Nou Camp tomorrow night.

They know their side has such awesome firepower up front - Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho et al - they can score without targeting Boruc.

It is no bad thing. For should the Pole snap and repeat his weekend antics then the Spanish authorities could have a full-scale riot on their hands.

After his side's fine win over Hibs at Easter Rd on Saturday, he made a series of ill-considered, possibly obscene gestures at the home stands.

He was, quite rightly, given a yellow card by astonished referee Iain Brines for actions which could easily have provoked an ugly, even violent, response.

Boruc was extremely fortunate the vast majority of the Hibs supporters had already filed away from the stadium by that late stage in proceedings.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is shrewd enough to realise that special talent demands special treatment.

Publicly, the Celtic manager hit out at the apparent double standards in Scottish football after his star player had collected such a pointless booking.

Showing admirable loyalty, he asked why entire teams were allowed to celebrate after beating his side only for his own players to be punished for doing likewise?

Genuine victory celebrations, though, are not a problem. The public and totally irresponsible goading of opposition fans most definitely is.

Boruc's continued indiscipline - this is not the first time he had hit the headlines for the wrong reasons - could easily have far more serious consequences.

Nobody wants to see a player being injured by a missile being thrown onto the pitch or, worse still, by a spectator who has entered the field of play.

Yet, sadly, given some of the cretins who attach themselves to Scottish football, that is exactly the sort of incident which could ultimately occur.

Quite why Artur, who had enjoyed another excellent afternoon between the sticks for the Parkhead club, chose to react like he did after the final whistle only he knows.

This was a hugely important and well-earned victory for Strachan's side against a Hibs team revitalised by the arrival of Mixu Paatelainen as manager.

Their ninth consecutive league triumph kept them four points behind Old Firm rivals Rangers, who later defeated Aberdeen 3-1 at Ibrox, at the top of the table.

Having slipped up at Easter Road earlier in the 2007/08 campaign, it was also further evidence that Celtic have struck a rich seam of form entering the title run-in.

Aiden McGeady did not enjoy one of his best displays. The appaling state of the Easter Road pitch did not allow him to exhibit his silky skills properly.

Nevertheless, his reputation clearly precedes him. The fact that he was being so closely monitored by so many Hibs players allowed team mate Lee Naylor a free run at goal.

The left-back, who enjoyed his best performance for a long while, could hardly believe his luck as he advanced unchallenged towards the home team's penalty box.

Naylor was, too, fortuitous in the extreme that his attempted pass to Scott McDonald ricocheted off Chris Hogg's foot and fell back into his path.

However, the Englishman's finish in 64 minutes, with his weaker right foot, was excellent and left Hibs goalkeeper Andy McNeil with no chance.

This willingness to get up the park, which has been noticeably absent from his game in many outings this season, suggests he is getting back to his best.

Georgios Samaras has done his prospects of a start ahead of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink tomorrow night no harm whatsoever with his second goal in two games.

The Manchester City loan star rose well in the Hibs box in 75 minutes to meet a McGeady cross and steered a header past McNeil and into the net off the inside of the post.

Scott Brown, too, enjoyed one of his best games for Celtic; he rampaged around the park all afternoon and was a constant threat to his former club. Brown was suspended for the first leg of the Champions League last 16 showdown against Barcelona and Strachan will be hoping his return helps his side pull off a major upset.

With any luck, we will be talking about the excellence of Celtic's play on Wednesday morning instead of the gross stupidity of their goalkeeper.