Celtic captain Callum McGregor underlined the difference in class between the William Hill Premiership champions and Rangers with a brilliant strike to round off a 3-0 Old Firm victory at Parkhead.McGregor delivered his second screamer of the season to add to first-half goals from Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi as Celtic went above Aberdeen on goal difference and five points ahead of their city rivals.Rangers started both halves brightly but could not deal with or match Celtic's cutting edge.Celtic adapted seamlessly to the loss of last season's star player, Matt O'Riley, as Paulo Bernardo produced a first-half display bursting with energy and invention while McGregor dictated play and Reo Hatate produced several moments of class.They later introduced new signings Arne Engels and Luke McCowan with the latter instantly looking at home following his move from Dundee.Rangers had Vaclav Cerny making his debut in the fixture but the winger failed to live up to expectations following a bright start to his career in Glasgow.The visitors started on the front foot with Mohamed Diomande pushing right up alongside Cyriel Dessers.As well as pressing aggressively, Rangers had early chances, both set up by James Tavernier.
Dessers shot straight at Kasper Schmeichel before being flagged offside and Rabbi Matondo headed wide from six yards.Celtic showed how clinical they could be when they beat the press with the help of a flick by Hatate.
McGregor sent Nicolas Kuhn away and the winger squared for Furuhashi to finish, however the goal was disallowed by VAR for a marginal offside against the German.The lead was only delayed until the 17th minute as Celtic built on the positivity.