Hartson scores 100th goal as Celtic go top of the league

Wales striker John Hartson scored his 100th goal for Celtic yesterday to help propel his side to the top of the Scottish Premier League after a comfortable 3-0 win over Falkirk.

Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady scored two first-half goals in as many minutes with Hartson grabbing the third in the 68th minute.

"There's better players than me who have never done that achievement at Celtic like (Jorge) Cadete, (Pierre) van Hooijdonk and (Paolo) Di Canio," Hartson said.

"So to join a list of other famous names who have done it makes me a very proud man."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said he was delighted with his team's performance.

"We just had to keep our concentration and not allow the crowd to get excited and I think that's what we did," he said.

"We didn't allow it to become a Cup tie rather than a football match."

Celtic top the standings on goal difference with 35 points from 14 games, the same as Hearts who won 3-0 at home to Dundee United on Saturday.

Champions Rangers are fourth after a scoreless draw at Aberdeen with 23 points from 14 matches. Hibernian are third with 31 from 14.