John Hartson scored a hat-trick as Celtic opened up a 10-point lead at the top of the Scottish premier league with a 5-1 win over Dundee United today. Hartson scored after 7, 60 and 83 minutes as Celtic moved on to 31 points from 11 matches. Bodo Balde and Shaun Maloney scored the others.
Rangers are second on 21 points, but will narrow that lead if they win or draw at last-placed St Johnstone on Sunday. Livingston, playing in the premier league for the first time, consolidated their third place with a 5-1 win at Kilmarnock, while Aberdeen moved up to fourth with a 3-2 home win over Dunfermline after leading 3-0 at one stage.
The match between Dundee and Motherwell was called off because of a waterlogged pitch. On Sunday, Hibernian play Hearts in the Edinburgh derby.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
