Another milestone for Larsson

Scottish Premier League: Swedish striker Henrik Larsson became the third-highest scorer in Celtic's history when he notched …

Scottish Premier League: Swedish striker Henrik Larsson became the third-highest scorer in Celtic's history when he notched his 220th goal for the unbeaten Scottish premier league leaders in Saturday's 3-1 win at Aberdeen.

Larsson's 43rd minute strike, sandwiched between Stilian Petrov's 30th minute opener and Stephen Pearson's third after 57 minutes, overhauled the 219 managed by the club's 1967 European Cup winner Steve Chalmers.

It also helped ensure a 20th successive league win for Celtic, who have 61 points from 21 games.

"I thought there were periods in the game when we played outstanding football," said manager Martin O'Neill. "It was great to see Henrik get that goal and he looked more like his old self today after not scoring for a few games."

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Larsson trails Bobby Lennox (273) and Jimmy McGrory (397) in Celtic's all-time list.

Celtic dominated the early exchanges at Pittodrie with John Hartson's header clawed away by goalkeeper David Preece and Larsson smacking the bar with a shot.

But they made their pressure count when Larsson crossed for Petrov to despatch a volley into the net. Larsson then tucked away the second after some studious passing play.

Scotland midfielder Pearson completed the scoring when he tucked away his first goal for Celtic after Larsson's shot was deflected into his path.

Steve Tosh netted a consolation after 62 minutes but Aberdeen did little to belie their status as the SPL's second-bottom placed team.

O'Neill believes a face-to-face meeting between striker John Hartson and Hearts defender Andy Webster could finally end the feud between the two clubs.

O'Neill and Hearts manager Craig Levein have been at loggerheads ever since an incident involving the two players in Celtic's 1-0 win at Tynecastle last week.

The Edinburgh club's own video footage appeared to show Hartson elbowing Webster in the face in an off-the-ball incident.

But O'Neill, having studied the footage frame by frame, insisted it had been Webster's own arm that had smashed him in the face.

The two managers have agreed to disagree but the fact that the two sides are due to meet again in the Scottish Cup in two weeks has prompted O'Neill to consider peace talks between the players.

He said: "If getting them together before the cup game helps diffuse the animosity that exists then I'd be for it. It's a good suggestion, not a bad shout at all."

No action was taken by the Scottish Football Association as the referee, following consultation with a linesman, booked Hartson for his challenge.

Meanwhile, Christian Nerlinger has pleaded for the chance to show he is the goalscoring midfielder Rangers so desperately need. The German made a rare start for the champions on Saturday and netted the goal that downed stubborn Livingston.

The former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund player has endured a frustrating time in Glasgow since leaving his homeland in the summer of 2001.