Celtic moved seven points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-1 win over Inverness at a freezing Tulloch Caledonian Thistle Stadium, yesterday.
Ronny Deila’s side crashed out of the Europa League with a 2-1 defeat to Ajax on Thursday night which left the Norwegian boss under increasing pressure but they returned to domestic duty to show their mettle.
Midfielder Callum McGregor was on target with a fine drive from the distance with only seven minutes gone but that was cancelled out by Caley striker Miles Storey in the 39th minute.
Inverness matched Celtic into the second half but on 59th minutes Leigh Griffiths drove in a Kieran Tierney cross and with five minutes remaining substitute Carlton Cole, making his debut, tangled with Danny Devine with the ball ending up in the net for an untidy but satisfactory conclusion for the champions.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Celtic | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 41 | 12 | 39 |
| Aberdeen | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 18 | 32 |
| Hearts | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 17 | 31 |
| St Johnstone | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 24 | 27 |
| Hamilton | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 22 | 22 |
| Ross County | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 23 | 22 | 21 |
| Dundee FC | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 25 | 20 |
| Inverness | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 17 |
| Partick | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 23 | 17 |
| Kilmarnock | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 29 | 16 |
| Motherwell | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 23 | 15 |
| Dundee Utd | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 32 | 8 |