Celtic took one step closer to retaining the Scottish Premiership title after battering Kilmarnock 5-1 at Parkhead.
Brendan Rodgers rang the changes as he named his Celtic starting XI after making four big changes from the team that lost at St Johnstone.
The Celtic manager was clearly still fuming from his team denying the home fans the chance of celebrating another title win at Parkhead and dropped Nicolas Kuhn, Auston Trusty, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jota to the bench.
And the changes got the reaction Rodgers wanted as Celtic blew Kilmarnock away and left the Rugby Park manager, Derek McInnes, in awe of the Parkhead performance.
Derek McInnes asks ‘How can they lose games’ after Celtic battered Kilmarnock
Speaking post-match, McInnes looked shellshocked as he tried to make sense of the 25 first-half minutes when Celtic raced to a 4-0 lead.
McInnes told Kilmarnock’s YouTube channel [5s], “Listen, it’s difficult for the players. I think when you see there’s two sides to us there.
“We slowed Celtic during the second half. We put a team out in the second half just to stop the bleeding and just to use a bit more experience, fill gaps, we became, as a consequence on paper, certainly less attacking.
“But we made Celtic go back the way a lot more and play around us, and I thought we defended really well second half.
“But the first half is where, and you asked the question, ‘Where did we get it wrong’, Celtic came out and started like a train.
“Everybody was talking to me about you’ll face the reaction that Celtic would have got from last week’s disappointment.
“And when you actually see Celtic, you think, ‘How can they lose games?’. You know, how can they lose games against teams in the league?”
Derek McInnes hails two ‘world-class’ Celtic goals vs Kilmarnock
There were two moments in the game where Celtic pulled out all the stops and wowed the 60,000 crown inside Celtic Park.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate’s goals left McInnes breathless as the Kilmarnock boss hailed both strikes as ‘world-class’.
McInnes continued, “But I thought Taylor’s movement, his energy and enthusiasm and his drive, Scales stepping into fullback areas, I thought they two where a huge part of that left hand side that was causing us issues.
“Maeda, Hatate, Taylor and Scales just ganging up on us out there and getting us on the back foot and getting us to the edge of the box really.
“And then from there on in we’ve got to show a bit of calmness. The first goal was a hell of a strike. There’s two world-class goals there. Hatate and Carter-Vickers. I don’t even know how much power he’s got.
“It’s like Dave Narey all over again. Those two goals are first-class and it shows you the quality Celtic have got.
Normally, McInnes has something to moan about whenever Celtic beat his Kilmarnock side, but on this occasion, the Killie boss couldn’t do anything other than praise the Hoops.
Celtic will win the title if Rangers lose to Aberdeen this afternoon this afternoon otherwise, Rodgers will need to wait until the next round of fixtures after the split.
With a fourth consecutive title on the way for the Bhoys and a potential treble on the line, there is still plenty to play for in the next couple of months and time for the dropped Celts to force their way back into Rodgers’ starting lineup.
