Celtic hit Hearts for four

Celtic opened up a four-point gap over rivals Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a clinical display in a 4-0 thrashing of Hearts at Tynecastle. It was Celtic's 13th successive league win - their best run since 2004 - and was a measure of revenge for their last defeat in the league, a 2-0 loss to Hearts in October. Hearts thought they had taken the lead after an explosive start when just 90 seconds into the match Stephen Elliott?s close-range header looked bound for goal, but Fraser Forster scrambled it clear on the goal-line. Celtic took advantage of all the confusion and just 30 seconds later opened the scoring through Scott Brown who drilled a low shot under Jamie MacDonald for his fourth goal in four games. Brown came close with a long-range effort and Scott Robinson saw his shot deflected just wide before Victor Wanyama doubled the lead in the 20th minute when he lashed the ball into the top left-hand corner. Any hopes Hearts had harboured of getting something from the game were snuffed out in the 31st minute when the unmarked Joe Ledley headed in Georgios Samaras? cross from a couple of yards out. Ledley came close to a second in the 58th minute when he saw his angled shot come off the base of the post before Gary Hooper poked home a fourth from a yard out after Danny Grainger had stopped Wanyama?s header on the line.