Two points the difference
Alex McLeish's side moved to within two points of their arch-rivals thanks to goals in each half from Ronald de Boer and Barry Ferguson, a penalty. For Aberdeen, who had defender Kevin McNaughton sent off for a deliberate handball, it was an eleventh straight defeat at Ibrox stadium.

Boyd done good
In the other Sunday matches, Livingston FC suffered a blow ahead of their UEFA Cup clash with FC Vaduz as they went down 1-0 at home to Kilmarnock FC. Kris Boyd's 42nd-minute goal divided the sides.

United at one each
At Tannadice Park, meanwhile, Dundee United FC earned a 1-1 draw against Motherwell FC when a Jim McIntyre volley cancelled out Stephen Pearson's early strike for the visitors.

Larsson settles it
Yesterday, Celtic made it four wins from four games thanks to a solitary Henrik Larsson goal at Glasgow neighbours Partick Thistle FC. Larsson registered on 72 minutes from a John Hartson cross.

Hearts unbeaten
Along with the Old Firm, Heart of Midlothian FC remained the only other unbeaten team after seeing off Dunfermline Athletic FC 2-0. Graeme Weir and Mark de Vries, with his sixth goal of the campaign, were the scorers at Tynecastle.

Hibs lose again
However, Hearts' Edinburgh rivals Hibernian FC slumped to a fourth defeat in as many games, losing 2-1 at Dundee FC. Hibs were unable to preserve the lead given them by Garry O'Conner and fell to late goals from Fabian Caballero and new Dundee signing Steve Lovell.