SPL round-up:Charlie Mulgrew celebrated his first Scotland call-up with a wonderful strike against Dunfermline at Parkhead which helped take Celtic 20 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
In the 33rd minute of one of the most one-sided games of the season, Mulgrew, in Craig Levein’s squad for the friendly against Slovenia next week, fired high past Chris Smith from 30 yards for the opener. The Fifers’ goalkeeper saved the Pars from more suffering until the 76th minute when substitute James Forrest, on for Emilio Izaguirre, made it 2-0 from close range.
Elsewhere, Michael Higdon scored a hat-trick as Motherwell moved to within three points of Rangers with a 4-3 defeat of Pat Fenlon’s Hibernian in a pulsating league encounter. Isaiah Osbourne fired Hibs into a half-time lead at Fir Park, before Higdon (penalty) and Jamie Murphy put the hosts ahead — only for the visitors to respond immediately through Matt Doherty.
Motherwell took the lead for the second time through a wonderful overhead kick from Higdon on 70 minutes and the Englishman then added his third from penalty spot five minutes later. Ivan Sproule blasted Hibs’ third beyond Darren Randolph after the home side had failed to deal with Francomb’s corner.
