Dunfermline 1-8 Celtic

Celtic slaughtered Dunfermline at East End Park today to regain their 13 point advantage at the top of the table and make SPL history. This was the biggest victory ever in the SPL and Celtic biggest win for 18 years since Hamilton were beaten 8-0 at Celtic Park in 1988. Maciej Zurawski helped himself to four goals in a superb individual display, but the biggest cheer of the day was for Celtic skipper Neil Lennon who scored his first goal for the club for over 4 years.

Gordon Strachan kept the same starting eleven that had won at Ibrox the previous week and his team men got off to a dream start with Stilian Petrov slotting home Mark Wilson's cross from close range after only two minutes. Petrov lost his marker with a near-post run and had the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into the net from Mark Wilson's cross.

The headlines in the Sunday Papers seemed to affect Artur Boruc as it was his mistake that allowed Dunfermline to draw level on 15 minutes when the Polish International made a mess of a corner. The keeper misjudged the flight of a corner and when Andy Campbell put the ball back into the middle, Tod powered a header into the unguarded net.

And ironically, it was one of the players supposedly criticised by Boruc - John Hartson - who regained the lead for Celtic when he reacted quickest after Bryn Halliwell had saved a Zurawski effort. It was a typical strikers finish and this goal took the pressure of the team.

Zurawski who has been immense in the recent weeks got himself on the scoresheet with an excellent strike from the edge of the box. Scott Wilson backed off the Polish star but the finish was out of the top drawer. And the Pole added a fourth five minutes before the break when he latched onto a long ball over the top to calmly side-foot the ball past Halliwell. It was horrendous defending as Zambernardi kept the striker on-side but it was a clinical strike for the red-hot striker.

Zurawski notched his first hat-trick for the club only 10 minutes into the second half, easing the ball into the net after trademark hold-up work by Hartson. It was great play from the Welshman but the defending was agin questionable as Zurawski had all the time in the world to prod the ball home.

Celtic were very comfortable and took their foot of the gas for a short period in that second half but they came to life again to produce an absolutely outstanding goal, with Zurawski the provider on this occasion. His cross found Maloney at the angle of the penalty area and he executed a perfect acrobatic volley to fire the ball into the top left-hand corner.

The biggest roar of the match came when Neil Lennon scored his first goal since December 2001. Lennon drove the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of Halliwell's net for his first goal to epitimise how speacial a game it was.
Zurawski completed the rout with his fourth goal with two minutes remaining as he outpaced Andy Tod before drilling the ball home after a long ball from McManus. It was a lesson in finishing from Zurawski today as he scored 4 goals from his 5 shots in the match. The result was Celtic's biggest win at Dunfermline since season 1927-1928 when Jimmy McGrory scored 8 goals in a 9-0 victory.


Dunfermline: Halliwell, McCunnie, Scott Wilson, Tod, Zambernardi, Darren Young, Mason, Simmons, Craig Wilson (Daquin 66), Burchill, Andy Campbell (Tarachulski 57).

Suns Not Used: McGregor, Donnelly, Labonte, Ross, Phinn.


Celtic (4-4-2)

Boruc

Telfer Balde McManus Wilson

Petrov(Nakamura 80) Lennon Keane(Thompson 67) Maloney

Hartson(Dublin 63) Zurawski

Subs Not Used: Marshall, Pearson, Lawson, Ferry.


Goals: Petrov 3, Hartson 24, Zurawski 32, 40, 56, Maloney 74, Lennon 82, Zurawski 88

Att: 9,015

Ref: Dougie McDonald