There are reasons why Emilson Cribari has made only five starts for Rangers this season. None need be given should this prove to be his last. Ever.

The Brazilian centre-half, once of Lazio and Napoli, has shown little of worth since arriving on these shores last term and topped off a catastrophic defensive display by Ally McCoist’s side when conceding a penalty with 15 minutes to go and gifting Stenhousemuir a draw.

A 72nd-minute Jon Daly header added to earlier goals from Nicky Law and Fraser Aird — the Light Blues’ 100th of the campaign — to give Rangers the lead for the first time in the game after they had let in Sean Dickson early on and allowed Sean Higgins to head home just before the hour.

The former poster boy of the Hibernian fans marked his return to Edinburgh by scoring a terrific goal to settle the outcome.

As you might expect, he milked the moment, first sliding to his knees in front of the home fans and then beating a long trail back across the pitch to greet his manager Neil Lennon, thumb raised in the air as a defiant gesture against the home supporters who had taken such delight in mocking him for the best part of an hour.

It made a change for Lennon to avoid the spotlight at Tynecastle but, like Forster and those defenders in front, the Celtic manager’s concentration did not falter until Teemu Pukki slotted in a clinching goal in stoppage-time.

The England goalkeeper got to the magic mark without having a save to make, yet could have seen his achievement fail 11 minutes previously when an uncharacteristic wobble almost let Hearts in.

Sam Nicholson’s left-wing cross was too close to the keeper to give Callum Paterson a chance but, as it bounced up off the surface, the ball slithered back out of his grasp.

He recovered in time to stop Paterson getting a bite but this was perhaps a sign that the normally unflappable Englishman was feeling some pressure to maintain his unblemished record.

Charlie Mulgrew nearly did something similar by giving the ball to Ryan Stevenson on the edge of the box before retrieving the situation but these two incidents simply underlined the fact that Hearts were toiling to create anything of note for themselves.

Celtic never threatened to replicate the seven-goal haul claimed on their last visit to Gorgie but, territorially, they were utterly dominant.

Anthony Stokes and van Dijk had hit shots narrowly wide but Griffiths, so anxious to get off the mark for his new club, was struggling to get his eye in and, at one stage, was urged by Lennon to calm down after hacking a volley aimlessly into the air.

Once Forster’s record was in the bag, Celtic started to edge closer. Kris Commons sent a pile-driving shot just over and van Dijk missed by a similar margin on the end of a corner kick.

The lack of significant goalmouth action did not reflect an absence of the usual edge present in these games — indeed, Hearts midfielder Jamie Hamill could count himself fortunate that referee Kevin Clancy missed his kick at van Dijk off the ball following a particularly scrappy passage of play.

Forster finally had something to do just after half-time when Stevenson’s long-range drive required a strong pair of hands.

Hearts’ starting striker Paul McCallum then departed without registering a shot at goal, a foot injury bringing a premature end to the on-loan West Ham man’s afternoon.

Griffiths’ goal was brilliantly taken but exposed the soft centre in the Hearts defence.

Stokes, who had earlier drawn a fine save from Jamie MacDonald, did the initial set-up work with some quick feet inside his own half but, even as the Irishman wedged his pass towards his strike partner, there was still much for Griffiths to do.

First, having got goal-side of Brad McKay, he managed to outmuscle the central defender and leave him in a sorry heap.

A burst of pace took him to the edge of the box, a twist and turn saw Danny Wilson go the way of McKay and then an emphatic finish into the far corner was the cue for those enthusiastic celebrations.

McCallum’s replacement, Dale Carrick, caused a few more problems for Celtic, forcing van Dijk to clear from under his own bar and generally stretching the visiting defence with his mobility.

Yet, while Gary Locke’s team deserve credit for remaining competitive, the busiest keeper remained MacDonald, who pulled off the save of the day from Celtic substitute Derk Boerrigter and had just been named man of the match when the visitors launched the counter that saw Pukki claim his goal.

There were claims for a foul as the Finn’s fellow substitute Amido Balde shrugged Hamill off the ball, but the Portuguese striker kept going and chose the right option.

Pukki, who had scored here on his debut back in September finished with aplomb to complement the achievements of his two headline-grabbing team-mates.

—Daily Mail