Celtic secured a fouth consecutive Scottish Premiership title – and a 13th in 14 seasons – after sweeping aside a ragged Dundee United at Tannadice.
Brendan Rodgers’ side only needed a point to confirm themselves as champions but did so in style to make the Northern Irishman the most decorated living Celtic manager with 11 honours, behind only Willie Maley and Jock Stein.
After celebrating Ange Postecoglou’s first Premiership title on this ground three years ago, several thousand Celtic fans watched another championship being secured well before half time of this game.
Nicolas Kuhn’s second strike – Celtic’s third – was their 100th Premiership goal of an outstanding campaign and put United’s early liveliness to to bed.
When Adam Idah claimed a second-half double with a header and a low shot to put Celtic 5-0 before the hour, things looked ominous for a dejected-looking United, who had started well, only to fall apart after half an hour.
That was when a Ryan Strain own goal – under pressure from Jota, who went off with an apparent knee injury – put Celtic in front before Kuhn’s double put the visitors out of sight, with both assists coming from Daizen Maeda.
Pre-match, Rodgers said he wanted his side to push past the 106 league goals his invincible treble side scored in the 2016-17 season.
They now only need five more in their final four fixtures. And, on this evidence, they are likely to surpass that total with something to spare.
Rampant Celtic show no sign of being sated
Rodgers wanted his men to win the title with a flourish and they haven’t disappointed in the past few weeks.
The manager won’t have been happy at the way his team started at Tannadice, but he’ll be delighted with the way they finished the first-half.
On 29 minutes, it was still 0-0. When the whistle went for the break, Celtic were three clear, home and hosed, title won. It was five before the hour and looked like it would end up being more.
Maeda has been banging in the goals lately – 11 in his last nine games – but it was his turn to assist here, setting up Kuhn’s goals, both of which were finished superbly.
The German made a ‘yap, yap’ sign with his hands to suggest too much has been made of the drop-off in his form in the second half of the season.
Idah’s double is also a timely reminder of what he has to offer when the team is flowing and chances are being created.
Celtic have clearly been the best team in Scotland by quite some distance and this was yet another reminder why.
Give them an inch and they can bury teams within minutes. It happened at Hampden against St Johnstone last week and it happened here.
Their latest title win means they are two-thirds of the way to a sixth treble in nine seasons. It’s an astonishing level of consistent high achievement of which Celtic show little sign of tiring.
Reasons to be cheerful in defeat for Utd
Those darn tangerines. Not the orange-shirted United players, but fruit that was thrown onto the pitch early in the first half by the travelling fans, apparently in protest against ticket prices.
That disruption completely ruined the home side’s momentum and allowed Celtic to re-set after a very underwhelming opening.
Jim Goodwin can legitimately look back on a highly-promising first 30 minutes as a good marker for the final four matches, with a European place still very much within their grasp.
He will rue the fact his side still managed to give away three goals before the interval having done so well prior to that.
But he’ll take solace from the fact Celtic have done similar things to other teams, and will be happy with the flexibility he now has, having gone to a back four which showed signs of promise before the collapse came.
The scale of that collapse will be a worry, but he may well take the view that better sides than his have also felt the sharp end of Celtic in clinical mode.
[BBC]