Celtic crush Caley to move top

SPL round-up : Champions Celtic knocked rivals Rangers off the top of the SPL with an emphatic 5-0 win over Inverness Caledonian…

SPL round-up: Champions Celtic knocked rivals Rangers off the top of the SPL with an emphatic 5-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, helped by a double from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Celtic took the lead through Vennegoor of Hesselink in 15 minutes when he used his knee to divert a ball from Scott Brown into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. Just before the break Italian midfielder Massimo Donati fired in a second goal which took a deflection.

Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura crashed a magnificent 25-metre shot into the top left-hand corner of the net for 3-0 in 56 minutes before Vennegoor of Hesselink headed the fourth.

Scott McDonald whipped in a low shot which was deflected past his own keeper by Phil McGuire for number five after 71 minutes.

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Rangers crashed to their first SPL defeat of the season earlier on Saturday as Hearts claimed their first league win with an exciting 4-2 victory at Tynecastle.

Rangers manager Walter Smith said: "No aspect of our game was decent. The first 20 minutes, I didn't think we handled the game very well and they put us under a bit of pressure. So we are disappointed from that point of view."

Rangers striker Kris Boyd went off with a bad head cut, putting him in doubt for the side's Champions League clash with Vfb Stuttgart on Wednesday but Smith said there was still a chance he could play.

Hibernian drew 1-1 at Falkirk while Aberdeen lost 2-1 at home to Motherwell and Gretna slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Kilmarnock.

Dundee United face St Mirren tomorrow.