Henrik Larsson’s 29th goal of the season kept Celtic hot on the trail of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League. Indeed, had Lee Bullen taken advantage of a sublime pass from Steve Crawford in the 74th minute, then the men from Fife might have dented Celtic’s ambitions. The striker had only Magnus Hedman to beat but fired his shot wide of target.However, at Parkhead it is what the other Swede does which makes the news. Larsson is on course to emulate his 53 goal tally two seasons ago, which won him the Golden Boot as Europe’s top scorer.It took him just 18 minutes to find the net here. Celtic used the long ball route, with John Hartson flicking on a giant kick-out from Hedman.

Chris Sutton then added his touch to play in Larsson who got in between Andrius Skerla and the goalkeeper Derek Stillie. The outcome was a trademark finish from Larsson who squeezed an angled volley between the pair.Celtic fans must have thought that another thrilling encounter laced with goals, such as the one that took place here on Boxing Day against Hearts, was about to unfold.How wrong they were. Celtic created few chances in the remainder of the first half and the most pressure Stillie was put under was when Hartson followed up a deft flick with a half volley which the goalkeeper read perfectly.Five minutes before the interval, the Pars threatened to equalise. Scott Thomson played a shrewd low cross into the box and the Scotland striker Crawford met it with a glancing shot that just slipped wide of Hedman’s far post.Celtic tried to secure the comfort zone of a second goal after the interval but the closest they came was when the pace of Didier Agathe opened up the visiting side in the 71st minute, but his cut back was scrambled clear for a corner from which Hartson’s header was saved by Stillie.Three minutes later came the let off when Bullen failed to punish the lack of concentration from Bobo Bald?Having survived, Celtic now head into the New Year with Rangers clearly in their sights.Celtic (3-5-2): Hedman; Mjallby, Bald?Valgaeren; Agathe, Lambert, Sutton, Petrov (Guppy, 61), Thompson; Hartson (McNamara, 75), Larsson. Substitutes not used: Gould (gk), Maloney, Crainey.Dunfermline Athletic (3-5-2-): Stillie; Skerla, Wilson, Walker (Dair, 76); Thomson, Nicholson, Crawford, Mason (Dempsey, 53), McGroarty; Bullen, Brewster (Hampshire, 83). Substitutes not used: Ruitenbeek (gk), Karnebeek.Referee: S Dougal.Bookings: Dunfermline Athletic: Skerla, Mason, Walker.Man of the match: Lambert.Attendance: 58,387.. Newcastle plunged further into the relegation danger zone after yesterday’s defeat by fellow strugglers London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

The Falcons have now lost 10 times in the Premiership this season and are rooted to the bottom of the table. Irish have a little more to cheer about, as this victory moves them six points clear of the bottom of the pile. “The result was more important than the performance,” O’Shea said. “We have now got ourselves at a crossroads, as we are winning games that we were losing. Now we can go up or down, and seventh place is within striking distance.”Neither side started well and, after missing two early penalties Barry Everitt managed to make amends with the first score of the afternoon after 36 minutes.Newcastle made a costly error in a defensive line-out when James Christian threw the ball long, to the surprise of his team-mates London Irish capitalised and earned themselves a scrum. Scrum-half Darren Edwards sent Everitt clear who chipped ahead and grounded the ball under the posts. This time the Irishman made no mistake, landing the conversion.Immediately after the restart, another Falcons error led to an Irish score.