THE final Glasgow derby of 2016 was certainly, as Brendan Rodgers stressed afterwards, a great advertisement for Scottish football.

With the 50,000 fans inside Ibrox creating a febrile atmosphere, both sets of players hurling themselves into challenges with scant regard for their personal wellbeing, or for that of their rivals, and scoring chances aplenty at both ends during the course of 90 frenetic minutes, there was much to admire and indeed be proud of.

It was as compelling a spectacle as any served up, including south of the border, at the weekend.

Even the fears about the minute’s silence in memory of the 66 Rangers fans who lost their lives in the 1971 Ibrox Disaster being disrespected amounted to precious little. Sure, a couple of empty vessels among several thousand Celtic supporters proved themselves incapable of remaining quiet for 60 seconds, but they were in a tiny minority and were quickly slapped down by those around them.

The concerns about the scheduling of the fixture on Hogmanay also proved unfounded as Police Scotland made just three arrests. Our national game may be far from perfect, but in terms of the passion and excitement generated it can often take some beating. This showpiece match was once again enormously entertaining.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the Ladbrokes Premiership, a league which Celtic, who still have a game in hand, now lead by a staggering 19 points as a result of their 2-1 win over Rangers on Saturday, this season.

The Parkhead club’s superiority in recent months has, even taking into account the fact that their player budget dwarves that of all of their top flight rivals combined, been highly impressive. They have a realistic chance of going the entire 2016/17 campaign unbeaten domestically and of breaking all sorts of records.

Rodgers’s side can conceivably win their sixth consecutive Scottish title with no fewer seven games remaining when they face Partick Thistle on April 5 – breaking the previous best set by Rangers in 2000 and equalled by Celtic in 2004 and 2006.

That, though, doesn’t make it especially captivating viewing. Far from it in fact. At no stage in the past, not when Celtic dominated under Jock Stein in the 1960s and 1970s, not when Aberdeen were the club to beat with Alex Ferguson at the helm in the 1980s, not when Walter Smith spent lavishly and Rangers won Nine-In-A-Row in the 1990s and not after Martin O’Neill had taken over at Celtic in the 2000s, has one club in Scotland been so utterly dominant in the post-war era.

The final day title deciders of 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011 have little chance of being repeated any time soon. That will be of little concern to those Celtic fans who stayed long after the final whistle to hail their heroes. But for the neutral observer the race for the league crown has become a non-event.

Rangers, a side comprised, in the main, of free transfers and players who cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, competed abut as well as they could be reasonably expected to against Celtic, opponents made up of multi-million pound footballers and established internationalists, on Saturday and could very easily have snatched a draw and a point late on had they shown more composure and been more clinical up front.

Harry Forrester should have done better after breaking through on goal, Kenny Miller struck the post and Danny Wilson forced a decent save from Craig Gordon with a header at a Barrie McKay corner kick. But it wouldn’t have been a fair reflection of the match if the home team had restored parity. They were outclassed by their visitors for lengthy spells and had hung on for dear life.

Rangers, dealt a blow before kick-off when Lee Wallace, their captain and left back, was ruled out with the hamstring strain he had picked up against Inverness Caledonian Thistle seven days earlier, were the better team in the opening half an hour and deserved to edge in front through Miller.

But from the moment that Scott Sinclair broke upfield and struck the woodwork Celtic were in command. Moussa Dembele, given time and space in the penalty box to control the ball and get a shot away despite having netted four goals against Rangers in two games this season, levelled at a corner in the first half. Sinclair sewed up the victory when he netted from a few yards out in the second.

Before that, Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham had produced a succession of instinctive saves to keep his team level. The Celtic midfield, with Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown and Sinclair all excellent, had bossed that vital area of the park, and cut open their bedraggled hosts at the back on numerous occasions.

The Parkhead club, who didn’t call on the services of Leigh Griffiths, failed to punish their hosts as ruthlessly as they could. Both Dembele and Sinclair have enjoyed far better games. Victory should really have been secured by a far more emphatic scoreline.

The most interesting contest in the Premiership this season will be that between Aberdeen, victors over Hearts at Tynecastle on Friday evening, and Rangers for second spot or the struggle to avoid relegation to the Championship. That promises to be the case for some considerable time to come.

Rangers, competing in the elite division for the first time since 2012, will get better and stronger in time. Finishing as runners-up and qualifying for Europe once again will be a fair return for their efforts this term. But this latest meeting with Celtic once again emphasised the huge gulf in quality that exists between the city rivals. It will not be bridged any time soon.