BRENDAN RODGERS was beaming after unstoppable Celtic romped to a six-goal triumph over demoralised Dundee at Parkhead.
The landslide performance saw the champions soaring to a 13-point advantage at the Premiership summit as they continue to zero in on their fourth successive title.
Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels were double-hit destroyers against the dazed Dens Parkers while Adam Idah, scoring in his third successive outing, and Nicolas Kuhn also chipped in with strikes as the Hoops cleared yet another hurdle on their way to inevitable silverware, the 55th crown in their celebrated history.
The £11million smooth Belgian playmaker got the show on the road with a perfectly-driven penalty-kick low past the luckless Trevor Carson to his right.
SIX APPEAL…Brendan Rodgers applauds Nicolas Kuhn’s goal that made it 6-0 for the champions.
Powerhouse Idah thumped in a second just before the interval and the goal parade continued after the turnaround when Maeda launched a diving header from an exquisite cross delivered by Filipe Jota into the net.
The Japanese flyer added a quickfire fourth with a glorious lob, Engels fired in one from 30 yards and Kuhn curled in No.6 with fabulous artistry and accuracy to bring down the curtain on an evening of fabulous finishing from the hosts.
All we needed to complete a perfect night would have been a comeback goal from Jota!
A smiling Rodgers reflected: “The performance was right up there from minute one to the 93th minute and I’ve got to say the players were absolutely brilliant.
“Obviously, having played Sunday and then going into Wednesday, there was not a great deal of recovery, but the attitude and the hunger in the team was impressive. And, obviously, our goals were absolutely brilliant.
“I thought the quality of our game was very good, but I’ve always said, I don’t lose sleep over who scores.
“We’ve got one winger on 18 goals and one on 17. We’ve got strikers scoring, midfield players scoring, so that’s what’s most important.”
JOY BHOYS…two-goal double-act Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda celebrate the scoring spree against Dundee during a Parkhead parade.
Maeda was singled out for praise by his glowing gaffer who told Celtic TV: “Daizen’s second goal, we were under pressure in the bottom corner but we stayed calm, made out passed and connected the game and took the ball out the other side, out of pressure.
“Arne’s pass was brilliant, but Daizen’s finish was sublime. It was a fantastic finish, but even his other goal before that – his run at the back post and a great ball from Jota.
“Nicolas’ goal was outstanding, as well, and in fairness to Trevor Carson in their goal, there wasn’t a lot he could do about the goals.”
Rodgers, who will now prepare his players for the Saturday night Scottish Cup visit from Raith Rovers, added: “I’ve always said that Celtic come alive at this part of the season.
“We’ve done so much great work up to this point, but this is the point where, as a Celtic player and a Celtic manager, you can really enjoy these pressure games.
“We’ve got 13 league games to go and we’re in a really good place, but we must keep our foot to the floor.”
