Glasgow--Super-sub Leigh Griffiths scored a hat-trick as Celtic came from behind to claim a 4-1 win over Kilmarnock that extends their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
After a first half that failed to produce a shot on target, Kilmarnock took a surprise lead in the 50th minute as Daryl Westlake's deflected shot got the better of Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
The Hoops weren't behind for long, though, as Scott Brown fired them level in the 58th minute before Griffiths headed the home side in front eight minutes later.
Griffiths claimed his second in the 80th minute with a vicious strike from 25 yards before completing his hat-trick with an angled shot five minutes from time to send Celtic eight points clear of Aberdeen with just six matches remaining.
"Defensively we were very good for the first 60 minutes, but our attacking play was too slow," Celtic manager Ronny Deila said.
"With Leigh coming on we had a lot of momentum and we finally opened them up and got our goals."
Killie manager Gary Locke looked for positives in defeat.
"I thought the game plan was working a treat. We were quite compact, well-organised and their fans were starting to get frustrated and then we went a goal up," he said.
"We probably should have defended better, but I think we have to look at the positives and we contained them for long spells."
AFP
