Celtic stride towards another treble with Hampden masterclass and make mockery of St Johnstone misstep

The Celtic fans partied in the spring sunshine at Hampden. They know they are close to another domestic clean sweep, what would be a third under the stewardship of Brendan Rodgers. A point at Tannadice next weekend against Dundee United will crown them as Premiership champions, although we've known for some time now that they are presently the best team in Scotland by some distance. With the Premier Sports Cup already in the bag, only Aberdeen can halt them on May 24.

That's when Celtic will return to the national stadium to take on the Dons, one of the few teams domestically to glean a positive result against them. But even still, the odds of the Dons raining on Rodgers' parade will be long. This triumph took the Northern Irishman's record at Hampden to 14/14. Impressive stuff.

Celtic as a whole were impressive here. Their mind sharpened by that aforementioned 1-0 defeat by Saints, they were in no mood for a repeat. Unlike that afternoon in Perthshire, Celtic showed a ruthless edge to completely scythe down Simo Valakari's men. Daizen Maeda took his tally for the season to 33 with a double, while Adam Idah put aside hitting the headlines for the wrong reason earlier this week when he was filmed vomiting in the back of a car after a night out by rewarding Rodgers' faith in starting him by netting. Skipper Callum McGregor commenced the rout and Jota finished it, while Reo Hatate orchestrated the whole procession with a midfield masterclass.

Saints held out for 34 minutes with a low block that Celtic probed and prodded patiently at. Valakari's men carried virtually no threat going forward and sat deeper and deeper as the first half went on. Once the tap was turned on, there was no stopping it. A four-goal deluge within 12 minutes completely drowned St Johnstone.

The opening strike was borne out of a poor mistake by Saints, with Barry Douglas' goal kick sent straight to Celtic's Alistair Johnston, who read the situation and pressed high to intercept. The ball was shuttled on to Hatate via James Forrest, whose cute backheel found McGregor on the edge of the penalty box. He progressed forward and curled past St Johnstone keeper Andy Fisher.

Ruthless Celtic show up

The way St Johnstone dissolved thereafter was testament to why they are five points adrift at the foot of the Premiership. Maeda curled home from inside the box three minutes later and then Idah was on hand to tap home on 45 minutes from Hatate's cutback.

If Saints fans - who had earlier illuminated their end with a pyro display - felt ill at this point, they were as sick as dogs a minute later when Hatate slipped the ball to Maeda and he found the far corner. Unfortunately for them, there was another 45 minutes to come. No hiding place.

The did have the ball in the net on 53 minutes through a belter of a strike from distance via substitute Makenzie Kirk, but VAR correctly advised that Daniels Balodis had shoved Idah off the ball in the build-up and referee Calum Scott chalked the goal off after visiting the monitor.

VAR was involved Celtic were awarded a penalty on the hour-mark when Forrest's run into the box was halted by Balodis. While there was contact, Nick Walsh back at Clydesdale House advised it was insufficient for a spot-kick and upon review, Scott agreed. A miffed Rodgers responded by sending on Jota, Nicolas Kuhn and Luke McCowan. He wanted more goals.

Another was forthcoming on 67 minutes, just as the Celtic fans had burst into a chorus of "champions again". It was beautifully crafted, with Kuhn sending Johnston down the right and his clipped cross was finished neatly at the back post by Jota.

It was time to rake through the record books for the last Scottish Cup semi-final trouncing at Hampden: Ayr United 0-7 Rangers in the year 2000. Alas, the game petered out tamely as Celtic stroked the ball around jaded and dispirited blue shirts. This job had been finished long before now.

There could be more celebrations next weekend on Tayside if Celtic avoid defeat at Dundee United. Then one final bit of work remains when they return to Hampden to face Aberdeen. The treble is right in front of them.