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Sutton treble erases bad memories
KILMARNOCK, Scotland -- Chris Sutton erased bad memories of his last trip to Rugby Park with a hat-trick as Celtic maintained their lead in Scotland with a 5-0 win over Kilmarnock. Sutton's trio, which included two penalties, and strikes from John Hartson and Shaun Maloney sent Martin O'Neill's side into next week's Champions League encounter with Anderlecht in high spirits. It was Celtic's 10th successive league win and they stayed five points clear of Rangers. The Ibrox side defeated bottom club Partick Thistle 3-1 with two goals from Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta. After 11 matches, Celtic have 31 points while Rangers have 26 and Hearts, who beat Livingston 3-1 at home, are third on 20 points. It was a triumphant return to Kilmarnock for Sutton, who was hit with a four-match ban for receiving two red cards for abusing the match officials in the aftermath of Celtic's 4-0 win on the final day of last season. Sutton's first came from a 20th minute penalty, after a foul on Stilian Petrov, but Celtic had to wait until the 70th minute to double their lead, through John Hartson's header. Sutton then added his second and, after substitute Shaun Maloney had hit a fourth, the striker completed his hat-trick in the 90th minute, to take his tally for the season to nine. Celtic manager Martin O'Neill was delighted with his side's form ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match with Anderlecht, who beat Celtic 1-0 in Belgium a fortnight ago. "I thought we played exceptionally well," O'Neill told reporters. "Chris has done very well indeed and was magnificent for us. "We will give Anderlecht plenty of thought over the next few days and if we play as well as we can, we're capable of winning it." Rangers warmed up for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford by comfortably overcoming Partick. Arteta curled in an early free kick and Dutch striker Michael Mols added a second before halftime. Arteta's penalty 13 minutes from time made it 3-0 before James Grady grabbed a late consolation.
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