THIS was the last of this season’s series of six Old Firm games and Rangers will surely now be grateful for the respite. Barring the battling draw achieved at Celtic Park during Graeme Murty’s temporary stewardship, the return of the Glasgow derby to the Premiership calendar has brought them nothing but misery. Of the five defeats Rangers have suffered at the hands of their rivals, this was perhaps the most galling and soul-destroying of the lot. The Ibrox side simply couldn’t lay a glove on Celtic in an insipid performance that will give manager Pedro Caixinha plenty to think about in the months ahead.

The gulf between the sides was exposed for all to see. Where Rangers were laboured, disjointed and unimaginative, Celtic looked bright, positive, and dynamic. If there is any criticism of Brendan Rodgers’ players it is that they ought to have scored have more than the five goals they eventually settled for. It was still the most they have ever ran in at Ibrox, the margin of victory the same as the 4-0 scoreline accrued back in 1898.

There was seemingly nothing at stake here for Celtic but their up-tempo, swaggering performance made a laughing stock of that notion. If they were expected to be vulnerable here against a Rangers side spoiling for revenge following their Scottish Cup defeat the previous weekend, there was no sign of it. Their rivals were simply swatted aside with minimum fuss, Celtic now just five games away from going through the entire domestic campaign undefeated.

This was John Beaton’s first time in charge of an Old Firm game and it is not an occasion he is likely to forget in a hurry. A contest that, in the first half especially, must have flashed before his eyes at breakneck speed included an early penalty decision, a breath-taking tackle from Jozo Simunovic on Kenny Miller in which the Croat thundered in but fairly claimed the ball, and assorted other flashpoints. When he was finally able to draw breath again last night Beaton could at least console himself with the fact that he got the majority of the big calls correct, even if most inside Ibrox evidently did not agree at the time.

Two days after the decision to overturn the red card that would have seen him banned for this game, there was a near inevitability that Scott Brown would find himself embroiled in some sort of incident and it came early in the encounter. Celebrating Celtic’s first goal with his team-mates in front of the Sandy Jardine stand, Brown soon found himself face to face with one disgruntled Rangers supporter who had taken to the field to articulate his grievance personally.

There was no harm done to the Celtic captain and the moronic pitch invader was eventually huckled away but it set the tone for an afternoon that crackled with hostility and tension, even if it was never a contest in the true sense of the word given Celtic’s undoubted superiority.

Their five goals arrived in a steady stream, each claimed by a different scorer. The first came after just seven minutes and was Beaton’s first big call of the game. Myles Beerman, who would endure a torrid afternoon trying to keep tabs on the impressive Patrick Roberts, lunged into a tackle on the winger on the corner of the Rangers penalty box. Beaton looked at his main stand assistant and then over to the fourth official at the mouth of the tunnel before giving the penalty. Scott Sinclair calmly rolled it in.

Rangers probably had to score first were they to have any chance of winning and a second goal after 18 minutes confirmed as much. It was a terrific finish from Leigh Griffiths who had been a peripheral figure when Celtic had won 5-1 earlier in the season on the back of a Moussa Dembele hat-trick. The goal stemmed from poor Rangers play, Emerson Hyndman robbed too easily by Stuart Armstrong whose pass to Griffiths was thrashed spectacularly past Wes Foderingham.

Ibrox seethed in discontent and it could had been worse had Griffiths not struck the crossbar, and Sinclair not missed twice from close range as Celtic looked to put the match to bed before half time. A third goal seven minutes after the break, however, confirmed Celtic’s superiority and provoked one Rangers fan to launch his scarf forlornly towards the pitch in a registration of their disgust.

It was a simple goal, Roberts feeding Callum McGregor who was able to sidestep a tame attempt at a tackle from James Tavernier before slotting a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper in front of a Celtic support who could scarcely believe what was unfolding.

Caixinha threw on Joe Garner having previously pitched in Andy Halliday at half time but it made little difference. Celtic had their fourth after 66 minutes. Griffiths stood over a free-kick on the right flank, his dead-eyed delivery nodded in by an ecstatic Dedryck Boyata with others queueing up.

The fifth came three minutes from time from an even more unlikely source, Mikael Lustig able to meander his way into the Rangers box before finishing as clinically as any centre forward.

Only Kenny Miller – a day after agreeing an extension to his contract – emerged from the Rangers camp with any credit, the forward claiming a consolation goal with a neat finish. His side were already 4-0 down by that point, another Old Firm derby destined to end in disappointment. They will be glad to see the back of them for a while.