Celtic boot up the backside from Rangers during dead rubber derby has me feeling Treble deja vu – Chris Sutton

Brendan Rodgers said in the build up there is no such thing as a dead rubber derby in Glasgow.

Rangers didn't play like it was one at Ibrox – but Celtic did. You could say this one had shades of the Michael Beale 3-0 win after Ange Postecoglou had wrapped up the title a few years ago. The difference is Celtic haven’t yet crossed the Premiership finishing line this year. In fact, there is still a long, long way to go. We’re only at the halfway stage, for goodness sake. Celtic have a huge 11 point lead, and no one really expects them to lose it from here.

But this is perhaps a bit of a kick up the backside that can sometimes come in handy. Yes, Rangers were good. They totally deserved their victory and you have to give them credit. The pressure would have been on with the prospect of going 17 points behind. But they played with a ferocity that suggested it meant something to them and that’s back to back games against Celtic when they’ve scored three goals.

That must be a concern for Rodgers. It’s also easier to turn up when the pressure is off. Rangers had to beat St Mirren and Motherwell to have a chance of cutting the gap here.

Instead they are further behind now than they were going into the festive period and looked like a side with nothing to lose on Thursday. At least they can start 2025 with an actual victory rather than a moral one – even if there’s no trophy up for grabs.

Joking aside, it was a strong performance and Celtic never laid a glove one their rivals. Is it a major worry for supporters though? I wouldn’t think so.

It was a bad day – a really bad day. I don’t think a single Celtic player got pass marks apart from perhaps Cameron Carter-Vickers. Players who have excelled in this fixture had total