Hartson and Petrov open floodgates

Celtic 6 - Dunfermline Athletic

Celtic's breath is now burning the back of Rangers' neck after a ruthless 27-minute spell saw them bury Dunfermline beneath an avalanche of five second-half goals at Parkhead yesterday.

John Hartson and Stilian Petrov each scored twice as the champions secured their largest home victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premier League to just one point, with two games in hand even after their rivals go to Dundee today.

Celtic's incentive of putting pressure upon Rangers underpinned their fierce early assault on Dunfermline, and it yielded a goal after just nine minutes. It was a personal moment to forget for Andrius Skerla, who was only playing because his move to Russia collapsed in midweek. The defender gave away the foul on Craig Bellamy that allowed Alan Thompson to deliver a menacing free-kick. Skerla then glanced the ball into the path of Hartson, who stabbed in his 23rd goal of the season from close range.

That ought to have opened the floodgates for the champions, but the Parkhead crowd were forced to endure a contest that saw them drag nine men back behind the ball for much of the first half.

Hartson could have doubled the lead just before the half-hour. Bellamy's pace and trickery carved out an opening only for his Welsh compatriot's venomous shot to be beaten away by keeper Derek Stillie.

Hartson then tried to turn provider with deft footwork on the byline before attempting to pick out Aiden McGeady, but Skerla cleared. The crowd, and Martin O'Neill, would demand a far greater tempo in the second half.

The manager and fans were rewarded with a remarkable display after half-time, though it took McGeady's sublime goal on 63 minutes to unhinge Dunfermline.

The teenager ended a patient move by gathering Thompson's pass and cutting in from the left, bewildering his marker, Greg Ross, with his stepover before whipping a right-foot shot from the edge of the box that flew past Stillie.

Five minutes later, Celtic stretched into a comfort zone. Hartson met Bellamy's low cross and lunged in to poke the ball beyond the overworked goalkeeper.

Petrov swiftly inscribed his name on the occasion in the 71st minute, profiting from another Bellamy set-up before volleying the Welshman's cross past Stillie. Petrov struck again just three minutes later, seizing on McGeady's pass and clipping the ball over Stillie. Jackie McNamara thought he had finished off the move but Scott Wilson cleared off the line, only for Petrov to thump in the rebound.

Substitute Craig Beattie applied the final touch to the success, meeting Ross Wallace's cross in the last minute to thump a header into the roof of the net.