Leigh Griffiths bagged a hat-trick as Celtic's grip on the Scottish Premiership tightened with a 5-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Neil Lennon's side were almost ahead in the second minute when Anthony Stokes's deft chip was only just wide of Dean Brill's post.

However, they were soon in the lead when Emilio Izaguirre teed up Griffiths and the former Wolves striker made no mistake from close range to score his first goal at Celtic Park.

Buoyed by their positive start, the Hoops quickly doubled their advantage when Griffiths turned provider. His pinpoint corner found Charlie Mulgrew and the midfielder tucked the ball past Brill.

Caley tried to find a way back into the game when Richie Foran got on the end of a rare counter-attack, but his effort failed to test Fraser Forster.

However, Celtic were quickly back on the front foot when Mulgrew played in Stokes, only for the forward to be denied by the reflexes of the Thistle keeper.

The Hoops quickly increased their lead after the interval when Griffiths rifled his shot into the top corner of Brill's net on 52 minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

Celtic refused to ease off and found a fourth when substitute Kris Commons unleashed a shot that deceived Brill in flight before creeping under the Caley stopper and nestling in the back of the net.

Commons then turned provider as Griffiths completed his hat-trick with a low drive from the centre of the box.

The result means that Celtic are still 21 points clear at the top of the table and are a game closer to sealing the title.