Celtic keep hold of top spot

Hoops skipper Stephen McManus and Cillian Sheridan fired the home side ahead before Steven Fletcher's drive deflected off Colin Nish and past Artur Boruc just before the break.

Five minutes after the interval Fletcher levelled from a Nish cross but with 15 minutes remaining, Glenn Loovens, on at half-time for McManus, headed in a Shaun Maloney corner before Scott Brown grabbed number four.

Derek Riordan, returning to Parkhead after leaving in the summer following two seasons of disappointment, had three attempts to score before Celtic clicked into gear.

The visitors remained dangerous and almost benefited from their bullishness when Dean Shiels slipped the ball through to Nish but the former Kilmarnock striker failed to gather and the chance was lost.

Hibs paid for that miss in the 32nd minute when McManus put the home side ahead. Shunsuke Nakamura's corner from the right was missed altogether by John Rankin, allowing the Celtic skipper to turn the ball past Hibs keeper Yves Ma-Kalambay from close range.

Three minutes later, Scott McDonald let a McManus pass travel through to Sheridan, who broke free of the Easter Road defence and confidently rounded Ma-Kalambay before slotting the ball in to the empty net.

The visitors pulled a goal back in the 41st minute when Fletcher's angled drive from outside the box took a deflection off Nish before speeding past Boruc and into the far corner of the net.

As the game edged towards its conclusion, Celtic stepped up the pressure and Ma-Kalambay looked awkward pushing Barry Robson's free-kick round the post for a corner.

But when Maloney swung the cross in from the left, Loovens rose highest in a packed penalty area to head in at the far post. Brown grabbed number four in the 82nd minute when he drilled a shot from 20 yards in to the far corner of the net and with that, Hibs' hopes were well and truly over.