SPL: Celtic lead by four

Two goals from Henrik Larsson and John Hartson have put Celtic firmly in command against Livingston.

Celtic 4, Livingston 0 (half-time)

Celtic’s stars responded to the party atmosphere with a rampant first-half demolition of Livingston at Parkhead this morning.

Henrik Larsson and John Hartson both notched doubles as Martin O’Neill’s men moved closer to claiming their first back-to-back championship triumph in 20 years.

But - as feared - some of their fans marred the celebrations by jeering and whistling throughout the minute’s silence for the Queen Mother, which preceded the game.

Hartson came within inches of scoring his second of the match three minutes later.

The Welshman took Lambert’s through-ball in his stride and crashed a fierce right-foot shot against the upright.

He attempted to fire home the rebound, but only managed to kick Oscar Rubio in the head.

But Celtic were threatening to run riot and Hartson made no mistake in the 25th minute when he headed Steve Guppy’s cross home from close range.

Livingston offered little in the way of an attacking threat and they fell further behind in the 33rd minute when Larsson headed Guppy’s cross into the corner of the net for his second goal of the game.

Larsson could have completed a sensational first-half hat-trick just two minutes before the break after skipping past Gary Bollan and Broto, but Rubio got back to clear off the line.