Title Race Wide Open After Another Victory Over 'Gers

The Bhoys Move Five Points Ahead At The Top Of The Table

By Tony Quinn

Celtic blew the SPL race wide open with a great 3-2 victory over Rangers on Sunday. Celtic now have a five-point advantage at the top of the table, (Rangers have three games in hand), and have a real chance of securing their third title in a row - when only a few weeks ago the challenge seemed over. The Bhoy's heroes were Australian striker Scott McDonald, who grabbed a brace, and Barry Robson, who converted from the penalty spot after McDonald was dragged down. Goals from David Weir and Daniel Cousin had cancelled out Celtic's opener to give Rangers a brief first-half lead but the Hoops dug deep and have now planted the element of doubt in the minds of the Ibrox side.

After the game Gordon Strachan was reluctant to admit that Celtic's second Glasgow derby victory in under a fortnight gives them the advantage in the run-in. He said: "I can't tell you how anyone else will react to it, it just makes us feel good about ourselves. We were disappointed to lose the goals from set-plays but I enjoyed everything apart from that. They realized what they had done wrong in the first half and made up for it in the second half. We have a satisfied dressing room and that is as good as you get here."

Scott McDonald revealed how he passed up on the chance to make history in the 3-2 win over Rangers. Not since Lisbon Lion Steve Chalmers scored three goals in a 5-1 win over Rangers in 1966 has a Celtic player notched a hat-trick in a home league game against the Ibrox men. McDonald's first-half double gave him plenty of time to replicate that feat. However the Australia international passed up a great chance to grab his third after the break when he stepped aside to let midfielder Barry Robson take the decisive penalty after the former Motherwell striker had been bundled to the ground by Kirk Broadfoot. He said: "In the case of the penalty, Barry had said before the game, 'I'm taking them', and that was that. I was thinking about the hat-trick but he was proved right."

Gordon Strachan has made light of Artur Boruc's post-match display of his allegiance to his faith. After the game Boruc, nicknamed the 'Holy Goalie' by the Celtic fans, took his jersey off to reveal a t-shirt with a picture of Pope John Paul II and the accompanying slogan 'God bless the Pope'. But Strachan joked: "He's not a bad lad, to be fair (the Pope). If it was 'God bless Myra Hindley' (an English child murderer), I might have a problem." The SFA says it will await the referee's report the game before deciding if any action is required against Boruc.

Neil Lennon has revealed that he feels a degree of sympathy for players who come up against Aiden McGeady. The former Hoops captain reckons McGeady would swap the two Player of the Year awards he picked up recently for the SPL title. "You forget how young Aiden is, he's only 22 or something like that and he's been around for three or four seasons now, but he's maturing all the time," Lennon said. "He's maturing all the time, his work ethic, drive and purpose to go past people and hurt people is second to none and I'd hate to play against him so it must be a nightmare for the rest of the defenders in the country. Obviously he's been awarded with individual prizes at the end of the season and I'm sure he'd swap them all for a championship medal."

Thomas Gravesen's agent expects him to leave Celtic in the summer. Celtic are desperate to offload the £2million signing from Real Madrid, who has another year of his £35,000-per-week contract to run, but agent John Sivebaek thinks that will be difficult. "There haven't been any approaches for him and, right now, I don't think Thomas is in a position to just choose a club," said Sivebaek. "He hasn't played a lot this season and that doesn't make things any easier for us."

Celtic have urged fans to respect the privacy of club coach Tommy Burns during his battle with cancer. Burns, a former player and manager at Parkhead, is currently receiving treatment for stomach cancer. And the Bhoys have thanked all fans for their good wishes - but admitted it was not in a position to provide regular updates on his condition.

Toronto FC signed free agent defender Olivier Tebily last Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We're adding another experienced player to the squad," TFC coach John Carver said. "He's had a good career especially at Celtic and Birmingham. He'll definitely improve the team with his versatility, as he can play either in the center or on the right in the back."