Celtic put a familiar look on title race

Dunfermline 0 Celtic 4: Routine is scarcely a word to have described the Scottish Premier League campaign so far. So it was almost a surprise that Celtic should see off Dunfermline's challenge in traditional manner yesterday.

The three points were vital for Gordon Strachan as they brought Celtic back to within five points of Hearts, and a point ahead of Rangers, who were beaten 3-0 by Tony Mowbray's Hibernian at Ibrox on Saturday.

"People in England maybe look up here and think there are four big games a season in Scotland, but that certainly won't be the case this year," Strachan said. "Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen have all improved - and that makes for a better spectacle. It maybe won't be as much fun for Rangers and Celtic supporters, but it will be fun for everyone else."

Dunfermline have not tasted victory over Celtic in a league match at East End Park for 16 years and, though they controlled large segments of this game, they lacked the guile to break through a mediocre Celtic defence.

To make matters worse, the Pars' weak link is also their back line, and that was to make all the difference as the much maligned Polish striker Maciej Zurawski finally found his scoring touch after his £2.2 million summer move from Legia Warsaw.

Zurawski scored twice, his first goals in Celtic colours, and John Hartson maintained his excellent form with another goal. There was a first strike in green and white, too, for the Japanese playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura.

Though Celtic's first two goals owed plenty to their hosts' generous defence, Nakamura's strike was the culmination of sublime play from the Polish striker, who turned a defender before waiting for his team-mate to run into the area before supplying him.

The former Celtic striker Mark Burchill saw a first-half penalty excellently saved by Artur Boruc with the score at 2-0, and that was to prove pivotal as Celtic moved up a gear in the second period.

Rangers' manager Alex McLeish labelled Hibs' first win at Ibrox in a decade, and their biggest there in 103 years, as a "smash-and-grab" affair. But that was an unfair comment after the substitute Ivan Sproule celebrated a second-half hat-trick.

Despite winning last week's Old Firm match, Rangers find themselves trailing Celtic and six points behind high-flying Hearts after defeats to Aberdeen and Hibs on either side of that tempestuous Glasgow derby.

While the defending champions floundered, Hearts were making it five wins from as many games at Tynecastle, edging past a spirited Motherwell side and showing in the process that they can win matches in a variety of fashions. George Burley's team lacked the attacking verve that has been the hallmark of their early-season form, and had to rely on a world-class save from Craig Gordon in the dying seconds to secure the win.

But their run continues, and with games against struggling Livingston and Inverness Caledonian Thistle to come after the international break, Rangers could well be the team under pressure when they visit Tynecastle on September 24th.

Guardian Service

DUNFERMLINE: Halliwell, Tod, Scott Wilson, Thomson (Horsted 77), Ross, Mason (Derek Young 20), Darren Young, Makel, Campbell, Tarachulski, Burchill (Hunt 73). Subs not used: Murdoch, Donnelly, Craig Wilson, Phinn. Booked: Campbell.

CELTIC: Boruc, McManus, Virgo (Lawson 59), Balde, Telfer, Petrov, Nakamura, Camara, Zurawski (McGeady 90), Hartson, Beattie. Subs not used: Marshall, Pearson, Wallace, Varga, O'Dea. Goals: Zurawski 5, Hartson 10, Nakamura 58, Zurawski 74.

Referee: K Clark (Scotland).