A much-changed Celtic tore a ragged Ross County side apart to move five points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the Premiership table, as their fringe men grasped their opportunity to impress.
A first half blitz saw the champions five goals to the good by the interval, with Liam Scales, Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor and Adam Idah all on the scoresheet to put Celtic Park into party mode.
Their heroes rather had the cigars out in the second half, but the job was long done.
Here are the talking points from a Saturday afternoon stroll for Celtic…
Celtic flex their muscle with illustration of squad strength
Beforehand, this looked to have the potential to be a sticky afternoon for Celtic, with Brendan Rodgers making six changes to the line-up on the back of their Champions League exertions against Club Brugge on Wednesday night, and a visiting side that would be coming with a gameplan to frustrate the hosts.
Those fears would prove to be spectacularly unfounded.
An early goal was clearly the aim to blow away the cobwebs, and Celtic didn’t half come flying out of the traps. Any fears that the disruption to the starting XI would upset their rhythm were quickly dispelled, with the fringe men who were handed a chance clearly in a mood to make the most of it.
There was a real verve and energy about them, and they got the early goal they craved to snatch away any hope from a visiting side who looked absolutely shellshocked by what they were facing.
And yes, the feeble resistance put up by the opposition and the standard of the County defending has to be factored in, but this was essentially a Celtic reserve side, and they absolutely wiped the floor with the beleaguered Staggies to the extent that it hardly seemed sporting.
It is stating the obvious to say that the gap between Celtic and the rest is a yawning one, but on this evidence, it is only getting bigger.
Bernardo strengthens claim to oust Arne Engels, and McCowan shines too
Ok, you have to place this in the context of who Bernardo was up against, because Club Brugge, County certainly ain’t. But all the Portuguese midfielder can do is shine when he is called upon, and he certainly did that once more here.
Beyond his well-taken goal, he looked sharp in his pressing and his passing and there was quality oozing from just about his every contribution.
Engels on the other hand has struggled to show the undoubted quality he too possesses over recent weeks, and while he may feel that he could have done just that up against such limited opposition, Rodgers concurred with the majority view that the Belgian was in need of a rest.
The dilemma for the Celtic manager may be whether he goes back to his £11m signing though after this for the visit to Pittodrie on Wednesday night, while the outstanding McCowan – with a goal and three assists - would also likely feel hard done by were he to be relegated to the bench once more after another impressive display.
Reo Hatate coming back in for the former Dundee captain might be a more straightforward call though than the one between Bernardo and Engels.
Could Alex Valle oust Greg Taylor?
In a similar vein, another position in this Celtic side that is a point of debate is at left back, where on-loan Barcelona youngster Alex Valle again impressed with his energy and positive approach.
The 20-year-old replaced a jaded-looking Taylor in the draw with Brugge in midweek, making an immediate impact as his forward pass teed up Daizen Maeda to equalise, and he drew warm applause from the crowd for his efforts both in an attacking sense, and for his desire to defend his side’s clean sheet even deep into the second half.
Taylor has been a fantastic servant for Celtic, and has surpassed all expectations since his move from Kilmarnock. It would be a brave man who would bet against him seeing off this latest challenge to his place from Valle, but this may well be the stiffest one he has faced.
County a shambles against big two once more
Having shipped six goals to Rangers during their Hampden residency earlier in the season, the scale of the defeat here shouldn’t perhaps have been too surprising. But my word, what a shellacking Don Cowie’s men took here in the first half.
The Staggies manager will no doubt stress that the fate of his team this season won’t rest on games like these, and he would be right, but even so, they failed to muster even a token resistance to Celtic.
To rub salt into their wounds, they lost keeper Ross Laidlaw to a knee injury just before half time, though, as five goals had already flown past him by that stage, he may just have wanted to be removed from the firing line. Poor Jack Hamilton (who actually did well, in fairness) must have been delighted to be coming on in his stead.
The only consolation that Cowie and County can really take is that they didn’t seem to be overly affected by their drubbing at the hands of Rangers, and he will hope that they pull themselves together for their bread-and-butter matches.
Idah back to his best?
The big striker gave a candid assessment of his performances so far this season in the lead up to this match, admitting he may have gotten a little carried away with himself after his successful loan last term.
He is unlikely to be getting too carried away about his single goal in a 5-0 win – as impressive a strike as it was – but there was much to like about his general play too.
He might have added one or two more goals, with a second half header coming back off the bar, but he is starting to look sharper.
