The Hoops extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership with the emphatic victory.
Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell has admitted to the Daily Record that he was never expecting Celtic to put five past Rangers during the Old Firm game on Saturday.
Brendan Rodgers’ men snatched the bragging rights back in emphatic manner after beating the Gers 5-1 at Parkhead, with Moussa Dembele celebrating his first appearance in the historic fixture by bagging a hat-trick.
Celtic’s Moussa Dembele celebrates his hat-trick
And after suggesting that the young striker would not have expected to make such an impact, Gemmell explained that the overall result came as a shock to him.
“That would have been a dream come true for him,” he told the Record.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
“If he had dreamt the night before that he would have scored a hat-trick, he would have woken himself up!
“This result will give everyone throughout the club, and the fans, a confidence boost.
“Taking five goals off any team is a result – taking five goals off Rangers is a mega-result. The scoreline was a surprise. I never expected that.”
Although the game pitted the top two in the Scottish Premiership against one another, it is fair to say that the gap between the two sides on the day was considerably larger than when they met in the Scottish Cup semi-final last season, when Rangers were a Scottish Championship outfit.
But the victory confirmed that Rodgers has instilled a huge amount of confidence in his squad, and that belief may have gone up another level after extending their lead at the top of the table, and having beaten all of the teams that were earmarked before the campaign as their most likely challengers for the title.
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