Champions Celtic surrendered a two-goal lead in a thrilling 3-2 defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the SPL. Caley were reduced to 10 men by the end of the encounter.

Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink headed Celtic into a 2-0 first-half lead with two goals inside a minute, only for Caley to spectacularly come back with goals from John Rankin, David Proctor and Don Cowie.

Vennegoor of Hesselink powered a header into the bottom-right corner from 10 yards after Paul Hartley's chipped cross on the right in the 24th minute.

He then flicked in a second from close range with his head as a 30-yard curler from Aiden McGeady swirled away from 'keeper Michael Fraser.

Thistle pulled a goal back with a Rankin penalty four minutes before the interval when Celtic defender Steven Pressley bundled down Romanian striker Marius Niculae.

Proctor headed the home side level in the 55th minute before Cowie outpaced the Celtic defence to stab a low shot past 'keeper Mark Brown into the left-hand corner in the 61st minute for the winner.

Thistle faced a fraught finish after Proctor was shown a straight red card by referee Alan Freeland for tripping Scott McDonald while he charged free to the edge of the penalty box in the 68th minute.

They had 'keeper Fraser to thank for preserving the lead with a magnificent one-handed save from Stephen McManus's 15-yard header which hurtled towards the top right.

"You have got to give my players credit - every one of them put on a great performance. And we had a couple of great saves from Michael Fraser ... the players appreciated his contribution," Thistle manager Craig Brewster told the BBC.

Celtic top the SPL table on 36 points from 17 games, while rivals Rangers remain second on 34 from 15 after beating Hearts 2-1 on Saturday with a Lee McCulloch double.

Reuters