CELTIC eventually enjoyed a comfortable win over Hamilton with goals from Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and Scott Sinclair. The champions were often wasteful in front of goal though, and were given a helping hand by hapless Hamilton goalkeeper Ryan Fulton as the score ultimately came to reflect their dominance.
Here are five talking points as Brendan Rodgers’ side put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.
IS IT TIME FOR CELTIC TO PREPARE FOR BOYATA DEPARTURE?
The Belgian defender was still missing from the Celtic line-up for this game, and while that may be temporary, there is a case for removing him from the side more regularly - if not permanently.
Filip Benkovic and Boyata are still the preferred partnership, but with neither going to be at the club next season, it could be time to prepare for their departure.
Hamilton didn’t really stretch the Celtic defence, but whenever they did venture forward, it was Kris Ajer who more often than not repelled them.
One tackle on Steven Boyd with the score at 1-0 was particularly impressive, the big Norwegian lunging in to get a foot to the ball and guide it to safety, an intervention that was equivalent to a goal for his side and celebrated as such.
As well as looking to bring in defensive reinforcements in the final few days of the window for the title race, Rodgers may have one eye on preparing for the early European qualifiers in the summer too, which may mean more game time for Ajer.
TIMOTHY WEAH IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Weah was handed a first start after impressing in his cameos from the bench against Airdrie and St Mirren, but he found the going tough against the packed Hamilton defence. The on-loan PSG youngster struggled to find space, and when he was presented with his one clear chance after Scott Martin made a hash of a backpass, he hesitated and allowed Fulton to save. Weah certainly has potential, but at just 18, inconsistency is to be expected. His power will perhaps prove more effective when coming up against teams who show a little more ambition in an attacking sense than Hamilton did here, leaving him gaps to exploit with his speed.
OLIVER BURKE IS DEVELOPING HIS ATTACKING INSTINCTS
The man who replaced Weah, Oliver Burke, also failed to get on the scoresheet, but perhaps only he will know how.
In his half an hour or so on the field, the on-loan West Brom man got himself into dangerous areas at will against the tiring Hamilton backline, and had three good opportunities that passed him by.
One of those owed more to fellow substitute James Forrest, who bizarrely ran across his path after he had picked up the ball following another Fulton error, allowing Hamilton defenders to get back on the line and block to safety.
Burke is studying videos of Luis Suarez in order to sharpen his attacking instincts, and he is at least trying to get himself into areas where he can do damage.
SCOTT SINCLAIR IS FLYING ONCE MORE
The Celtic manager knows Sinclair better than anyone, and so has come to expect the periods of inconsistency that can frustrate supporters. But the confidence so crucial to Sinclair if he is to be effective look to be restored.
His headed goal towards the end - his eighth in seven games - was a bonus, but it was his wonderful weaving run in the first half which took him past four players before crashing a shot off the bar that hinted at the belief currently coursing through the 29-year-old.
RYAN FULTON NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS CONCENTRATION
Rarely can a player have experienced such highs and lows during the course of one match as Hamilton goalkeeper Fulton did on Saturday.
For half an hour, the former Liverpool youngster was inspired, saving brilliantly from Weah and Sinclair in particular. But then, his afternoon fell apart.
A shot from McGregor from the edge of the area was hit well enough, but it was straight at the Hamilton keeper, who was left embarrassed as the ball squirmed through his grasp and in.
Another elementary error allowed Celtic to grab their second, as he spilled an inswinging cross from Mikael Lustig onto Ryan Christie’s leg and in.
He should have been punished again as he came out of his area and missed a header, and with another costly mistake against his name last week in the Scottish Cup defeat to St Johnstone, evidence is mounting against this undoubtedly talented young keeper that his concentration levels are in urgent need of improvement.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here