Someone at Ibrox had better check on Aaron Ramsey ’s whereabouts this morning.
Having winced his way through the sheer savagery of this beating from the padded seats in Parkhead’s main stand, the Welshman may have been excused had he slipped away into the dead of night to think long and hard about what he’s just got himself into.
If this 90 minutes summed up the size of the current gap between the champions and the challengers, then it’s not a thumbs up from the medical team Ramsey requires before coming to Rangers’ rescue.
It’s a red cape and matching underpants.
And even then it might not be enough given the bloody mess Celtic made of his new team-mates.
Dazed and confused by what was being done to them, they were three down by half-time.
And even though they complained an early opener – lashed home by the outstanding Reo Hatate – should not have stood, this was merely the clutching of straws on a night when Celtic were throwing haymakers.
Of course, the title fight has some distance to go.
But this did feel for all the world like the night when Ange Postecoglou’s side seized control by going top and further weakening the knees of their wobbly arch rivals.
Quite simply, the Aussie’s players were better, faster and smarter than anyone in a blue shirt, with Hatate the standout performer covering almost every blade of grass on his way to another man-of-the-match award.
This was one of those nights when even the release of team news added to the sense of high-stakes drama.
Was Callum McGregor’s face mask enough to keep him safe in a crowded space in the middle of the pitch?
Could Kemar Roofe make more of an impact than Cedric Itten after being handed the role of stand-in for Alfredo Morelos?
This one change meant a starting place for Amad Diallo but Celtic also threw derby debuts to Hatate and Matt O’Riley in midfield, along with Giorgos Giakoumakis in attack.
Each of these inclusions added to the fascination factor.
More than that, they all had the potential to be game changers in their own way amid this mayhem.
But one man was about to steal the show.
With just four minutes on the clock and Celtic flying out of the traps, Hatate held his position on the edge of the Rangers area as O’Riley whipped a corner into the six-yard box.
Panicked by the pace on the delivery, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey clattered into one another as Borna Barisic headed clear.
There was Hatate, lingering with intent, to pull the ball under his spell with a touch of the left boot, then lash it beyond a flat-footed Allan McGregor with his right from 20 yards, a slight deflection helping it on its way.
As soon as it crashed into the back of his net it became clear McGregor was in for a torrid night.
Celtic were coming at him from all angles, with Rangers utterly unable to cope with the speed and intensity of this ferocious attack.
Only McGregor could stand in the way. And, for a while, he somehow kept them out all on his own.
Fourteen minutes in, he pulled off a stunning double save to bat out an explosive drive from Jota who had caught James Tavernier frozen in the disco lights.
McGregor then sprung back to his feet to claw out a thumping header from Giakoumakis after the Greek frontman powered high above Bassey on the follow-up.
Giakoumakis, chasing a third goal in four games, was battering on the door again when he was picked out by Liel Abada’s perfect cutback.
Although he slid in to take the shot early, McGregor was there again to save superbly at his left-hand post.
Then, 26 minutes in, Giakoumakis was denied for a third time from
even closer in as McGregor somehow reacted to thwart the 27-year-old at point-blank range.
This was developing into a battering. But old warhorse McGregor was keeping Rangers on their feet
just long enough for heads to clear and senses to be unscrambled. In fact, Rangers created a chance to level late in the half when Aribo slotted a pass through the centre of Celtic’s defence, only for Joe Hart to spot the danger and race off his line to snuff out the threat at Scott Arfield’s feet.
Sixty seconds later, Hatate struck again to strangle the life out of the first signs of a Rangers revival.
Accepting a pass from Abada after a quick raid down Celtic’s right, he looked up to clip a curling finish into the same corner of McGregor’s net he had found already.
With Rangers now coming apart at the seams, a third goal arrived before the break when Hatate popped up on the left flank and whipped a cross into the danger area. This time Barisic fell asleep on his feet as Abada flew past him to apply the killer touch from close range.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst made three substitutions at half-time
more in hope than expectation, replacing the lost Diallo with Fashion Sakala, the inept Barisic with Leon Balogun and the bemused Glen Kamara with Ryan Jack.
Had he made another five changes there could have been little complaint.
McGregor aside, only Arfield and Aribo had come close to pass marks while Celtic were turning in eights, nines and 10s all over the pitch.
That’s how one-sided this contest – in the loosest term of the word –
had become.
Yes, the changes helped Rangers get a foothold but only because Celtic were in command.
Had Arfield hit the target with a snapshot that flew over in 53 minutes, it might have caused a flutter of anxiety.
But the perfectly relaxed Postecoglou reacted by throwing on fresh legs of his own with James Forrest and Daizen Maeda replacing Abada and Giakoumakis, both of whom left the scene in 62 minutes to rapturous, well-earned applause. Van Bronckhorst’s side continued to huff and puff, Sakala forcing a save out of Hart and Jack rattling the keeper’s woodwork with a thunderbolt from distance.
They may even have convinced themselves that they did enough throughout the second half to repair some of the damage.
They shouldn’t allow themselves to be fooled into a false sense of security.
Instead, they had better hope that Ramsey is ready for action sooner rather than later.
