RECORDS are being broken as easily as victories racked up and trophies accumulated by Celtic this season.

This emphatic 5-0 win over their city rivals in their penultimate Ladbrokes Premiership last night saw their points tally rise to 103 – the same number that Martin O’Neill’s side banked back in the 2001/02 campaign.

Should they overcome Hearts in their final league match on Sunday – and on this sort of form it is very hard to see any other outcome - before Scott Brown is presented with the trophy they will set a new best mark.

What is more, the goals which Leigh Griffiths, Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic netted and the double Patrick Roberts scored have taken them to within just one of the haul of 105 which their predecessors plundered in the 2003/04 season.

Read more: Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers plays down Leigh Griffiths bust-up: "We kissed, made up and had a cuddle"The Herald: Celtic winger Patrick Roberts, centre, is congratulated by his team mates after netting a stunning goal against Partick Thistle.

Again, only a foolish man would bet against Brendan Rodgers’s charges matching or bettering that Premiership record when Ian Cathro’s men come calling this weekend.

Rodgers already has half an eye on next season’s Champions League qualifiers – which get underway in early July shortly after his players return for pre- season training – and he once again rested a plethora of first team regulars.

He made no fewer than five changes to the side which defeated Aberdeen 3-1 at Pittodrie on Friday evening. Brown, James Forrest, Cristian Gamboa, Emilio Izaguirre and Erik Sviatchenko were all brought in as Stuart Armstrong, Mikael Lustig, Jozo Simunovic, Scott Sinclair and Kieran Tierney dropped out.

That every member of the quintet who were given their chance has been capped at full international level underlined the formidable strength in depth which the Glasgow club have at their disposal.

It was the first sighting of Brown since the 5-1 demolition of Rangers at Ibrox at the end of last month. He has been in such impressive form in recent months it was very hard to tell if the time off had made a difference. But he was certainly was his usual commanding self here.

Alan Archibald, meanwhile, made three changes to the Thistle starting line-up which had been defeated 1-0 by St. Johnstone in Perth on Saturday. Ade Azeez, Ryan Edwards and Niall Keown were replaced by David Amoo, Chris Erskine and Steven Lawless.

Read more: Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers plays down Leigh Griffiths bust-up: "We kissed, made up and had a cuddle"

Thistle drew 1-1 with Celtic when the two teams last met at Parkhead last month. But that midweek game came just a few days after the hosts had secured their fifth consecutive Scottish title and may have been down to a little over-celebrating.

It was certainly one way traffic from kick-off last night. Tomas Cerny did well to deny both Forrest and Roberts early on. Callum McGregor also shot wide and Izaguirre struck the post. It was just a matter of time before the visitors took the lead.

They did so in the 18th minute after the trickery of Roberts proved too much for Callum Booth. The winger was brought down by the left back and referee Andrew Dallas pointed to the penalty spot. Griffiths accepted responsibility and stroked a left foot shot into the bottom left corner. It was his 17th goal of the season.

The striker set up Rogic eight minutes later. Despite the close attentions of several Partick defenders the Australian managed to turn the ball in off the inside of the right post from a few yards out.

Thistle did attempt to drag themselves back into the game and centre half Liam Lindsay forced Craig Gordon to make a save with a downward header seven minutes before half-time.

Read more: Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers plays down Leigh Griffiths bust-up: "We kissed, made up and had a cuddle"

But Roberts lashed a left foot shot into the top left corner from fully 20 yards out just three minutes later. “Sign him up!” chanted the Celtic supporters who had packed into the Jackie Husband Stand. The Manchester City man will be missed next season if he doesn’t return either on loan again or permanently.

Neither Cerny or Abdul Osman reappeared for the second half. Their places in the Thistle team were taken by Mark Ridgers and Ryan Edwards respectively. Ade Azeez came on for Erskine during the second half. But none of the replacements made a difference.

Celtic, meanwhile, put on Kolo Toure for Dedryck Boyata and Sinclair for Griffiths after an hour had elapsed. Nir Bitton then took over from Forrest.

It was only Toure’s third appearance this year – he had appeared for the last few minutes of the wins over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in February and Hearts last month – but the Ivorian’s arrival on the field was greeted with warm applause.

The 36-year-old centre half, a member of the Arsenal “Invincibles” side back in the 2003/04 season, looks poised to bring an end to his distinguished career this month. The achievements of his current team will rank alongside any of those he has been involved in.

McGregor and Roberts put the gloss on the result in the closing stages when they rifled in shots from outside the opposition area.