CELTIC 6 DUNDEE 0
CELTIC were ruthless and remorseless as they dismantled Dundee at Parkhead tonight to rocket their way to a THIRTEEN point advantage at the Premiership pinnacle.
The champions, seeking their fourth successive title, turned on the afterburners in an eye-catching performance that showcased a conveyor belt of marvellous finishes.
Arne Engels (2), Daizen Maeda (2), Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn were involved in the goal rush that flattened their Tayside rivals who had no answer to the pulverising display from Brendan Rodgers’s men.
Celtic went ahead in the 18th minute after VAR intervened following an incident that saw Auston Trusty hauled to the ground by Mohamed Sylla as Engels whipped over an inviting right-wing corner-kick.
Remarkably, referee Colin Steven signalled a free-kick for the visitors, but technician Alan Muir instructed the onfield official to have another look at the incident.
SPOT ON…penalty-kick specialist Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda celebrate.
After a thorough examination of his touchline monitor, the whistler returned to the field and pointed to the spot and then booked the Dundee culprit.
Engels, with two successes from the spot against the Taysiders already in his debut campaign, stepped up to make it a hat-trick with an accurate crisp low drive to Trevor Carson’s right.
Earlier, after only three minutes, Reo Hatate curled in a wicked cross from the left that forced the keeper to scramble the ball away from Maeda as he raced in at the far post.
Five minutes later, a moment of slack defending from a throw-in from the left presented Aaron Donnelly with the opportunity to fire in a low drive, but Kasper Schmeichel was swift to react to the danger as he got down to grasp the effort at his left.
Then came Engels’ breakthrough strike from the spot and Hatate scorned a reasonable opportunity to add to it after being set up in the box with a neat pass inside from the right by Callum McGregor.
Unfortunately, the Japanese midfielder took too many touches inside the packed penalty area and the chance was lost.
WATCHING BRIEF…Brendan Rodgers keeps a close eye on proceedings from the touchline.
Two minutes into first-half stoppage-time, Idah thundered the hosts into a 2-0 advantage with a blistering drive into the roof of the net after a quickfire sequence of rebounds.
Greg Taylor sent Idah through with a glorious pass and the Republic of Ireland international snapped in a clever effort off the outside of his right foot. Carson made a flying save to his left to push the ball away.
Comeback Bhoy Filipe Jota was first to react as he hammered it back in first time, but once again the rival netminder made another superb stop.
The ricochet fell to Idah and this time the burly hitman made no mistake from an angle as he walloped an unsaveable drive and this time there was nothing the heroic Carson could do to defy the hosts.
Idah looked justifiably proud at claiming his fourth goal since taking over the main attacking role in his third game since Kyogo Furuhashi left for Rennes early last week.
WALLOP…Adam Idah thumps No.2 high into Trevor Carson’s net.
Ten minutes after the interval, Jota lit up the east end of Glasgow when he showed a glimpse of his trickery and lethal crossing ability as he set up No.3 for the deadly Maeda.
The Portuguese ace picked up a pass from Taylor on the left, jinked to go to the touchline, sold an opponent a dummy, swept inside and clipped over a right-foot cross for the menacing Japanese raider.
Maeda made a perfect connection with his head from close range and once more Carson was forced to retrieve the ball from the back of his net.
Four minutes later, Maeda struck again to finish an absolutely breathtaking move from the champions which saw the ball whisked from the hosts’ left-back position all the way down the field before the ever-alert and fleet-footed wide Bhoy completed the embroidery with an exquisite lob from the edge of the box.
Jota, Hatate and Taylor were involved before the ball was fed out to Engels on the right. The astute Belgian arced a pass into the tracks of the galloping Maeda who didn’t hesitate before nonchalantly lofting the ball high over the stranded Carson.
In the 63rd minute, Rodgers, with an eye to the Champions League encounter against Bayern Munich at the same venue in a week’s time, took off skipper McGregor and the tiring Jota and threw on Paulo Bernardo and Nicolas Kuhn.
And the Celtic support was celebrating for the fifth time in the 71st minute after an eye-catching effort from Engels.
The smooth midfield operator eased onto a crossfield pass from Taylor, took control, glanced up and sent a 30-yarder towards the Dundee goal.
The effort took a touch off the challenging Sylla and Carson could only claw fresh air as the ball clattered behind him off the underside of the crossbar at his top left-hand corner.
A minute later, Jeffrey Schlupp, on loan from Crystal Palace, came on for his debut as he replaced Taylor while Johnny Kenny took over from Idah.
Luke McCowan was also introduced to the action in the 78th minute and three minutes later Kuhn joined the goal procession with No.6.
Once more, it was a Goal of the Season contender as the German worked a one-two with Alistair Johnston to open up space in the box.
With a quick look up, he saw the exposed spot behind Carson to his right and the winger curled in another unstoppable shot with his left foot.
Celtic can now take a rest from collecting crucial points to turn their attention to the Scottish Cup where they will face Raith Rovers at Parkhead in their last-16 tie on Saturday night.
TEAM: Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor (sub: Schlupp 72); Engels, McGregor (sub: Bernardo 63), Hatate (sub: McCowan 78}; Maeda, Idah (sub: Kenny 72), Jota (sub: Kuhn 63), Maeda.
