John Hartson and Chris Sutton scored twice and Henrik Larsson and Stilian Petrov added the others give Celtic a 6-0 victory over Hibernian on Saturday and an 11-point first-place lead over Rangers in Scotland.
Rangers had Saturday off and played on Sunday at Dundee. Celtic leads the Premier League with 52 points with 41 for Rangers. Hearts have 30 and Dunfermline has 29.
In all Saturday scores: Celtic 6, Hibernian 0; Hearts 0, Motherwell 0; Kilmarnock 0, Dundee United 2; Livingston 1, Aberdeen 1; Partick 4, Dunfermline 1.
Hibernian was doomed after Derek Riordan was sent off on a red card in the 42nd for tripping Jackie McNamara. Celtic was leading at the time 1-0 after Sutton's goal in the 4th minute.
Hartson scored in first-half injury time to make it 2-0 after 45 minutes. Sutton scored a penalty in the 54th with Hartson getting his second in the 60th.
Larsson made it 5-0 in the 66th, making him the No. 3 all-time scorer in Celtic history. Petrov made it 6-0 in the 77th.
In Dundee United's 2-0 victory at Kilmarnock, Billy Dodds scored in the 20th and Jim McIntyre added a penalty in the 82nd.
Burton O'Brien scored in second-half injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Livingston. Aberdeen went ahead in the 23rd on Scott Booth's goal.
Partick looked better than a last-place team in its 4-1 win over Dunfermline. The winners got a boost when Dunfermline's Scott Thompson was sent off in the 55th on a red card. Partick was leading 1-0 at the time on Andy Thompson's 38th-minute goal.
James Grady made it 2-0 on a penatly in the 56th, but Craig Brewster closed to the margin to 2-1 in the 59th.
Partick scored two late goals with Andy Ross finding the net in the 89th and Grady getting his second in second-half injury time.
Hearts and Motherwell played a scoreless draw at Tynecastle, a match in which neither team managed many scoring chances.
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