• SPL round-up

Celtic steal early march on Rangers with Hibs win

Anthony Stokes scored from a tough angle © PA Photos

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Defending SPL champions Rangers are already chasing Celtic this season after Neil Lennon's side opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Hibernian at Easter Road.

In a performance of real contrast to their Glasgow rivals, Celtic seemed to heed the warning of Rangers' lacklustre opening against Hearts, which saw Ally McCoist's men concede a half-time advantage before battling back for a draw.

Celtic ensured that did not happen on Sunday, taking the lead after 14 minutes. Anthony Stokes showed superb composure to find the roof of the net after keeper Graham Stack had flapped at a cross.

Stokes also had a hand in Celtic's second just after the hour, first failing to slide a ball behind the fullback and then squaring the ricochet into the path of Ki Sung-yueng, who drilled into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

The only stain on a good day for the Bhoys was a missed penalty by Gary Hooper, who saw his spot-kick brilliantly turned onto the right upright by Stack. Emilio Izaguirre had won the penalty when he faked to cross inside the area.

The day's other game saw Dundee United draw their first home match of the 2011-12 campaign 1-1 against Kilmarnock. The two sides finished fourth and fifth respectively in last year's SPL table, but that tells something of a false story as United held a 12-point advantage over Killie.

But the new season could see a closer competition between the two, as United substitute Danny Swanson scored a blistering effort with 20 minutes remaining to cancel out Killie summer signing Rory McKeown's equally impressive effort from 30-yards just minutes after half-time.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

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