Celtic had a couple of goalkeeping howlers from Hamilton keeper Ryan Fulton to thank for what turned into a comfortable win over the struggling Lanarkshire side. Callum McGregor netted the opener from distance after Fulton allowed the ball to squirm through his legs before Ryan Christie settled the nerves inside Celtic Park with a second.

Mikael Lustig's left-foot cross into the box seemed to carry little threat but as the keeper dropped the ball, Christie was on hand to knee the ball into the net. Scott Sinclair added a gloss to the scoreline with a third after Scott Brown had supplied Lustig and his cross was headed into the net by the winger as the game drew to a close. Scott Bain kept the gloves for the visit but had little to do in a game which Celtic dominated but without displaying the same fluency as recent performances against Airdrie and St Mirren. Scott Sinclair had come close to grabbing the opening goal when he went on a run before cutting inside and having a ferocious effort parried onto the bar by Fulton. Timothy Weah, making his first start for the club, ought to have netted too when Scott Martin's slack backpass was pounced on by the American teenager thought too much about the chance and hit it off the advancing keeper. There should have been further goals in the second period. Oliver Burke and James Forrest arrived with the former denied a goal after his effort came off of Forrest. Further goals, however, followed as Celtic ran out comfortable winners as Brendan Rodgers got his birthday celebrations off to an ideal start.