CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers said his players 'set the standard' he expects to see for the remainder of the season in Saturday's 5-1 Scottish Premiership defeat of Kilmarnock.
The game would have been a title clincher had it not been for the league leader's surprising 1-0 defeat to bottom club St Johnstone last weekend.
The Kilmarnock meeting could have posed another banana skin, with the tie pitting the league's best home record against the worst away record.
However, there was to be no repeat of last Sunday's Perth slip-up as Celtic got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion.
"That today just sets the standard now for us for the remainder of the season but it was a brilliant reaction from the players and a wonderful performance," Rodgers told Celtic TV after the game.
Rampant opening
Despite losing three of their previous six league games, an upset was never likely to be on the cards given Celtic's home dominance, with only Rangers and Bayern Munich having won at Celtic Park since the start of 2024.
However, a response was expected after last week's drab defeat against Saints, during which Celtic rarely looked like recovering from Daniels Balodis' early goal.
Rodgers and the fans certainly got that, with the hosts 4-0 up inside 25 minutes.
Reo Hatate opened the scoring after nine minutes with a blistering shot from around 25 yards that Kieran O'Hara, even at full stretch, had no chance of stopping.
Reo Hatate with his second of the game to make it 4-0 (Image: Ross MacDonald / SNS Group via Getty Images)Two minutes later and the prolific Daizen Maeda doubled the advantage, tapping home at the far post following Lewis Mayo's attempt to clear a James Forrest cross.
If the second was from a familiar source, the third was the opposite as centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers got in on the action with only his second league goal in three seasons.
Even more surprising than the scorer was the goal itself, a spectacular shot similar to Hatate's but from the right and from further out than the Japanese midfielder's effort.
Summing up the mood was Irish striker Adam Idah, expecting a ball over the top from the defender, putting his hands on his head in disbelief at seeing the net ripple from the Carter-Vickers' strike.
Hatate made it 4-0, taking a touch from Alistair Johnstone's cross to wrong foot Mayo before firing home from 10 yards.
Killie pulled one back five minutes later, Danny Armstrong's cross-cum-shot evading everyone and sailing over Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo into the corner of the net.
As with the visit of Hearts two weeks ago, the second half saw a drop in tempo, Celtic perhaps keeping their powder dry for next weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock focussed on damage limitation.
However, there was time for the hosts to add a fifth in injury time, Anthony Ralston capping an impressive cameo by firing home from the edge of the box after good work from Hatate and Carter-Vickers.
'Winning attitude'
Speaking after the game, Rodgers believed it was important to provide a response to last week's loss, after which he had questioned his side's mentality.
"Obviously, the reaction was important for us," he told Celtic TV.
"It's just our overall game, I think it's how we want to work, it's how we want to play.
"I said to the players beforehand, 'Today is about a winning attitude' — mix that with talent and then we'll always play with big quality and I think for large parts of the season, that's what we’ve done."
He added: "The first half, the connections in the team, the speed of the game, the quality, the running off the ball, the mobility — everything that is good about this team we seen today."
Cameron Carter-Vickers celebrates his goal with James Forrest and Liam Scales (Image: Craig Williamson / SNS Group via Getty Images)The boss described the performance as the 'perfect preparation' for next week's meeting with St Johnstone.
The Saints may have given their survival hopes a boost with their victory over Celtic but they slipped to defeat again yesterday at Dundee United.
Focussing on the cup may offer respite from their league woes and the Perth side have a strong cup pedigree, winning the competition twice in the last 11 seasons.
However, Celtic have made a habit this season of defeating teams in the cups who have troubled them in the league.
After dropping their first points of the campaign in the 2-2 draw against Aberdeen in a top-of-the-table clash in October, Celtic hammered the Dons 6-0 two weeks later in the League Cup semi-final.
Goalscorer Anthony Ralston, centre, at full-time at Celtic Park (Image: Craig Williamson / SNS Group via Getty Images)Meanwhile, Celtic followed up their 2-1 league defeat at Hibs in February with a 2-0 win over the Easter Road side in the Scottish Cup quarter-final two weeks later.
The semi-final against St Johsntone kicks off at 3pm next Sunday, April 20 at Hampden Park, with the winner facing Hearts or Aberdeen, who play the day before.
In the league, Celtic need just one more win to seal the title, as long as Rangers don't lose at Aberdeen this afternoon in the final round of fixtures before the split.
Celtic's next Premiership tie will take place on the weekend of April 26-27.
