Zurawski double boosts Celtic as Czech mates fire Hearts

Poland striker Maciej Zurawski, seen here in October 2005, bagged a double as Celtic began the defence of their Scottish Premier League title by beating Kilmarnock 4-1.

Poland striker Maciej Zurawski bagged a double as Celtic began the defence of their Scottish Premier League title by beating Kilmarnock 4-1.

Hearts, who finished last season as runners up to Gordon Strachan's side, also kicked off with three points, although the Edinburgh outfit were made to work far harder for a 2-1 win at Dunfermline, Czech duo Roman Bednar and Michal Pospisil providing the goals.

Rangers will begin their first campaign under new French manager Paul Le Guen at Motherwell on Sunday.

After being heavily criticized for some lacklustre pre-season performances, Celtic started hesitantly against Kilmarnock before taking control of the match with first-half goals from Zurawski and Czech midfielder Jiri Jarosik, who headed in Zurawski's cross to mark his Hoops debut with a goal.

Shunsuke Nakamura made it three with a trademark curling free-kick with quarter of an hour left, helping to put the disappointment of Japan's first round World Cup exit behind him.

Zurawski claimed his second with a last-minute tap-in after Kilmarnock midfielder Steven Naismith had volleyed in a late consolation goal for the visitors.

Next weekend's trip to Hearts will provide a more reliable measure, but Celtic's performance was certainly good enough to justify their status -- with the bookmakers if not the pundits -- as favourites to retain their title.

It also prompted Strachan, who described his side's performance as "a job well done", to deliver a scathing put down of the critics who had suggested his side would struggle this season.

"We must be the first team in history of the world that has won the league by 20 points and to be under pressure before the first match of the next season," Strachan said. "Pressure? We just laugh at the pressure."

Three of the Celtic manager's five summer signings were in the starting line-up; Gary Caldwell at centreback, Jarosik anchoring the midfield impressively and former Rangers striker Kenny Miller a lively leader of the forward line.

The other two new Bhoys, Derek Riordan and Evander Sno, came on as late substitutes, with Scotland striker Riordan providing the cross for Zurawski's second strike.

Hearts got their campaign off to a solid start when Roman Bednar volleyed them ahead in the 15th minute, from a Pospisil cross.

The Pars refused to lie down however and former Hearts player Stephen Simmonds head them back on level terms just after the hour mark.

But with 12 minutes left, Pospisil stabbed in a close-range winner after Bruno Aguiar's free-kick had rebounded off the crossbar.

Dunfermline finished the match with ten men when substitute Andy Tod, who had replaced new signing Noel Whelan after just five minutes, was shown his second yellow card of the game for a wild tackle on Julien Brellier.

St Mirren marked their return to Scotland's top flight by beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 in the Highland capital, thanks to a double from former Millwall striker John Sutton.

In the day's other matches, Falkirk came away from Dundee United with a 2-1 win while Aberdeen held Hibs to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road.