Celtic beat Hearts and cut Rangers lead to a point

Champions Celtic cruised to a 3-0 win over Hearts and cut the gap on Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers, who have a game in hand, to one point yesterday. Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed Celtic's opener with a right foot shot from...

Champions Celtic cruised to a 3-0 win over Hearts and cut the gap on Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers, who have a game in hand, to one point yesterday.

Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed Celtic's opener with a right foot shot from the left side of the box after 14 minutes following a low cross by Aiden McGeady.

Australian striker Scott McDonald headed the second on 50 minutes from six metres after a corner by midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura.

German defender Andreas Hinkel then rammed a shot into the roof of the net for the third with 76 minutes gone.

Celtic now have 55 points from 24 games while leaders Rangers, who play at Kilmarnock today, have 56 from 23. Hibernian face Aberdeen in the other league match this afternoon.

Motherwell moved up to third place with a 3-1 win over Gretna that left them on 41 points from 23 games. Falkirk hammered St Mirren 4-0 while Inverness drew 1-1 with Dundee United.

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