Soccer-Celtic win 4-1 at Motherwell to stay in title chase

GLASGOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Celtic eased to a 4-1 win at Motherwell on Sunday to narrow the gap on leaders Rangers to four points.

The Glasgow rivals clash at Celtic Park on Wednesday with Rangers topping the standings on 75 points from 30 games. Celtic now have 71 from 32 after brushing Motherwell aside with Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbing a double.

Captain Stephen McManus headed the opening goal on 17 minutes after Motherwell keeper Graeme Smith failed to deal with a free-kick into the box from Shunsuke Nakamura.

McManus powered his header into the middle of the net, but six minutes later he turned a Ross McCormack shot into his own net for Motherwell's equaliser.

Celtic went ahead again on the half hour when former Motherwell striker Scott McDonald fired in an angled volley from 15 metres on the right which took a slight deflection off defender Mark Reynolds to beat Smith.

Vennegoor of Hesselink made it 3-1 two minutes from the break by smashing a six metre header high into the net from Barry Robson's corner.

The Dutch striker added a fourth goal after 56 minutes as Lee Naylor's huge throw-in from the left dropped to him 12 metres out and he lashed home with a rising shot.

(Reporting by Kenny MacDonald; Editing by Justin Palmer)