Celtic 3 Dunfermline 1
Two goals from Lubo Moravcik helped Celtic to a 3-1 win over Dunfermline this afternoon and extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier division to four points.
And it was another disappointing day for rivals Rangers who failed to break Hearts and had to settle for a point after conceding a late equaliser at Tynecastle.
Martin O'Neill's side almost made a dream start within the first 30 seconds of the start with the great understanding between in-form striker pair Henrik Larsson and Sutton again evident.
Moravcik pumped a long ball into the box and Sutton cooly laid off for the Swedish striker, but Marco Ruitenbeek made a save to his right to deny him.
But the Dunfermline keeper made a bad mistake in the ninth minute which he inevitably paid for.
The Dutchman fluffed his kick straight to Moravcik, 25 yards out, and the pint-sized Slovakian calmly chipped the ball over his head and into the empty net for the opener.
The visitors came right back at Celtic, but were finding it difficult to break the home side down in defence with Bobo Balde making his debut for the club since his summer arrival.
The frustration of the Dunfermline players began to boil over and Jack de Gier became the first man to be shown a yellow card after a late tackle on Thompson.
Sutton headed Moravcik's corner just past the post in the final minute, but moments later they had doubled their lead with a superb piece of football.
Larsson seemed to be going nowhere, but his back-heal sent Sutton away and he cooly drew Ruitenbeek out before sliding the ball past him and into the goal.
Dunfermline came out fighting after the break and had a penalty rejected in the 51st minute when Jason Dair went down from the challenge of Balde, but the referee waved away protests.
The Pars were coming more into the game and De Gier forced a good save from Kharine two minutes later.
The points were secured when Moravcik produced another sublime finish in the 70th minute.
The Slovakian latched on to Balde's ball downfield to hit an unstoppable dipping volley past Ruitenbeek for his third goal in two games.
Stephen Crawford, however, reduced the arrears moments later with a lethal strike in the box and brought another good save from Kharine with minutes remaining.
Meanwhile, Stephen Simmons turned up the heat on Rangers manager Dick Advocaat with a terrific late equaliser for Hearts against Rangers at Tynecastle.
Canadian international Kevin McKenna had given the Jambos the lead in the first half before former Hibernian man Russell Latapy stunned the home side with an equaliser.
Norwegian international striker Tore Andre Flo put the Ibrox side ahead in the second half.
But 19-year-old Simmons ensured that the cash-strapped Edinburgh club held on for a point in an exciting 2-2 draw.