Sweden striker Henrik Larsson enjoyed a glorious end to his Celtic career, scoring twice to help secure a 3-1 Scottish Cup final victory over Dunfermline Athletic to wrap up the domestic double.
The prolific Larsson assumed centre stage on Saturday to spoil spirited Dunfermline's hopes of a first Cup success since 1968 after they took the lead through Andrius Skerla's 40th minute header.
The Swede raced away to coolly slot home the equaliser after 58 minutes before brilliantly turning Dunfermline's Aaron Labone to drill a 71st minute shot into the corner of the net.
Bulgarian midfielder Stilian Petrov wrapped up the win after 84 minutes when he drove the ball home as the underdogs wilted.
"We came roaring back in the second half with some great goals to win and I'm absolutely delighted," said Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, who was full of praise for Larsson.
Yet an upset had appeared on the cards as Celtic found few openings in the first period against a counter-attacking side content to soak up the pressure and stifle their opponents.
That policy worked perfectly and Jimmy Calderwood's Dunfermline side created several chances before Skerla struck.
Gary Dempsey drilled a free-kick just wide after four minutes before 37-year-old striker Craig Brewster, who scored the winner in Dundee United's 1994 victory over Rangers -- forced a fine save from Celtic keeper David Marshall after Barry Nicholson had picked him out with a searching long ball.
UNLUCKY PETROV
Celtic seemed ill at ease and their best opening did not arrive until the 25th minute when Alan Thompson slammed an effort narrowly wide from Chris Sutton's intelligent pass.
They were unlucky when Stilian Petrov's effort was disallowed after he tucked the ball home in the 34th minute with Larsson deemed guilty of a foul in the build-up.
But those were rare moments of cohesion as Dunfermline continued to disrupt Celtic's rhythm and Darren Young unleashed a venomous deflected shot that flashed past Marshall's post.
Celtic fell behind in contentious circumstances as Dempsey's corner was met by Skerla whose header looked harmless until Derek Young challenged Marshall and the ball dropped into the net.
Celtic won a series of corners at the start of the second half, one of which saw Dunfermline's Gary Mason kick the ball off his line, and the pressure paid off when Larsson equalised.
The champions were transformed and Larsson beautifully turned Labonte from Thompson's short pass to fire into the corner of the net before Petrov's killer third goal handed delighted manager O'Neill his sixth trophy in four years.
"I'm still disappointed at losing but we've had a great season," said Dunfermline manager Jimmy Calderwood. "A lot of people predicted it would be a walkover and it was far from that."
Larsson will now focus on playing for Sweden next month at Euro 2004, which will give his talents a platform as he looks towards continuing his career at another top European club -- possibly in his preferred destination Spain.
He ends his seven-year stay with 242 goals from 315 appearances. He sits behind only Jimmy McGrory (470) and Bobby Lennox (273) as the Glasgow side's third top scorer.
