Celtic reign supreme as King

● French stand- in striker gets the title party started with a first- half double before Forrest, Rogic and Mcgregor goals pile the misery on woeful Rangers

C e l t i c c o n t i n u e t o t a k e B r e n d a n Rodgers at his word as he demands they write their own histor y at the club.

They have clinched titles in more dramatic circumstances since they first became champions of Scotland 125 years ago but seldom, if ever, can it have tasted as sweet for their supporters as the manner in which they w r a p p e d u p t h e i r 4 9 t h d o me s t i c crown.

Rodgers’ players surged across the finishing line in the most emphatic st yle imaginable, inflicting a fresh dose of abject miser y on a r ag ged R a n g e r s s i d e n ow f l o u n d e r i n g i n their bid to even finish runners- up in the Premiership.

This was Celtic’s biggest- ever winning margin in an Old Firm league fixture as they yet again hammered home just how much of a gulf currently exists between the clubs.

It was another wretched aftern o o n f o r o u t g o i n g m a n a g e r Graeme Murty, hot on the heels of the 4- 0 Scottish Cup semifinal defeat at Hampden a f or t night earlier. As t h e R a n g e r s b o a r d pursue Steven Gerrard as his replace - ment, they can only hop e t he one - s i de d nature of this 90 minut e s do e s n’t s c a r e of f 3 Rangers midfielder Graham Dorrans endured a torrid time at Celtic Park and it was a similar story for his dejected manager, Graeme Murty, right. the former Liverpool and England captain.

Odsonne Edouard was tormentorin- chief of the Ibrox side, the young French striker scoring Celtic’s first t wo goals and running the visitors ragged. James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Callum Mcgregor completed a rout which might easily have been even more humiliating for Rangers.

This would have been a daunting assignment for them in any circums t a nc e s a n d Mur t y ’s c a us e wasn’t helped by a training- ground injur y to Declan John which meant Andy Halliday stepping in to deputise at left- back.

The visitors were already without first- choice goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, meaning an Old Firm baptism of fire for Jak Alnwick, and there was a predictably jitter y look to their defence which Celtic were only too happy to feast upon.

Rodgers’ men had all the intensity and motivation you would exp ect of a team presented with the prospect of wrapping up a title in front of their own fans and against their greatest rivals. Rangers were simply overrun in midfield where Graham Dorrans endured an especially torrid afternoon, appearing off the pace and guilt y of conceding possession cheaply. The drive of S cott Brown and Olivier Ntcham, complemented by the guile of Rogic and energ y of Mcgregor, allowed Celtic to dictate the tempo and pattern of play as they wished for long spells.

The only surprising aspect of the first half was that it took as long as 15 minutes for Celtic to make the breakthrough. They created a procession o f c h a n c e s f r o m t h e o p e n i n g moments as they lo oked to put Alnwick under pressure. Ther e was c e r t a i nl y no g e n - tle introduction to the fixture f o r t h e R a n g e r s k e e p e r. When he punched clear a Mcgregor corner in the third minute, he was relieved to see Ntcham’s f ol l owup shot blocked. Fo r r e s t t h e n s aw a n e f f o r t d e f l e c t e d j u s t o f f t a r g e t b e f o r e Alnwick had to scramble to his left to claw another shot from Ntcham wide. Rangers were being hemmed in and it needed an alert defensive header from Halliday to pre - vent Forrest getting on the end of a delightful Mcgregor cross, all of this before ten minutes had elapsed.

Any hopes R angers had of riding out the early storm evaporated when Edouard put Celtic in front. The striker had been guilt y of being too selfish a couple of minutes earlier when he chose to take on a shot, deflected wide, when a pass to the unmarked Rogic was clearly a better option.

But Edouard’s timing was perfect when he raced into the six- yard box ahead of Dorrans to get on the end of Kieran Tierney’s low cross and slam the ball home. Celtic were off and running. This already looked like a long, painful afternoon for Rangers.

They did flirt briefly with the notion of making a genuine contest of it, Jason Holt forcing Craig Gordon into a decent save as they tried to find a positive response to falling behind. But from the moment Celtic made it 2- 0 t hree minutes b efore t he i nter val, it simply became a question of how wide their winning margin would be.

Rangers were actually in a promising position in the build- up to the goal but when Dorrans gave the ball away, Forrest pounced and launched a rapid counter- attack down the right. He slipped a pass to Edouard who easily