SPL wrap: Celtic, Rangers end season on a high

Gary Hooper scored all of Celtic’s goals in an incredible performance to defeat Hearts 5-0, while Rangers also piled on the goals on Sunday.

Hooper had two in the first eight minutes, scoring from close range with either foot to give the 2012 Scottish Premier League champions a 2-0 lead.

A 39th-minute penalty gave the 24-year-old English striker a first-half hat-trick but Hooper was far from finished.

It took him 21 minutes of the second half to score his fourth goal, rounding Jamie MacDonald in Hearts’ goal to slot the ball home.

In the 87th minute, Hooper made it 5-0 for Celtic with his fifth, converting Georgios Samaras’ cross.

Meanwhile, Rangers put their off-field problems aside to thump St Johnstone 4-0 at McDiarmid Park.

The visitors took the lead after 22 minutes when Lee McCulloch scored with an impressive half-volley.

St Johnstone kept the score at 1-0 until the second half when Rangers’ Nigerian winger Sone Aluko scored a hat-trick.

Aluko’s first goal came in the 56th minute when he finished one-on-one past St Johnstone’s goalkeeper Alan Mannus.

The winger’s second goal six minutes later was set up through Steven Whittaker and Alejandro Bedoya’s clever passing before Aluko scored Rangers’ fourth goal in the 73rd minute with a powerful shot.

The win meant Rangers ended the SPL season in second with 73 points, 20 points behind Celtic, while St Johnstone stayed in sixth.

In the other game played on Sunday, Dundee United defeated Motherwell 2-0 thanks to goals from Johnny Russell and Jon Daly.