Celtic put on a stunning show of firepower to obliterate Dundee as seven different goalscorers put seven past their beleaguered opponents.

They may not have ultimately returned to the top of the Premiership table, but they served notice to Rangers that they are right in this fight for the title, while giving their goal difference a timely boost in the process.

First half goals from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Adam Idah, Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda, Greg Taylor and Callum McGregor had Celtic six up by the interval, with youngster Daniel Kelly adding a seventh after the break.

The tin lid was put on a miserable evening for the visitors as Finlay Robertson picked up a second yellow card with 15 minutes to go, but Michael Mellon did manage to pop up with a well taken goal to offer Dundee the most meagre crumb of consolation.

Here are the talking points from a buoyant Celtic Park…

BRENDAN RODGERS FLIPS THE NARRATIVE

It has been a week, and indeed, a season, where the Celtic manager has found good news stories hard to come by. But after weathering something of a media storm over the last few days since his infamous ‘Good girl’ comment on Sunday, Rodgers would be feeling much better about life after watching his side produce something of a throwback performance to his first time in charge of the club.

Rodgers deserves much of the credit for the stark turnaround. He made changes to his side for the second half at Fir Park on the weekend that paid off handsomely, and he stuck by them here, with Idah starting ahead of Kyogo Furuhashi up top, Yang Hyun-jun replacing Nick Kuhn on the right and Carter-Vickers coming in for his first start since his return from injury.

Carter-Vickers and Idah both scored, while Yang impressed with his direct running once again on the wing, giving Dundee’s on-loan Liverpool man Owen Beck what must have been the toughest shift of his otherwise impressive spell in Scotland so far.

If Celtic are indeed to write their own story from here on, as Rodgers insisted they would on Sunday, then the first chapter is off to a flyer. There are sure to be plot twists aplenty yet to come, but the deafening roar that greeted the half time whistle was maybe the moment that the Celtic public finally began believing in their leader and their team once again.

GLASGOW CELTIC FINALLY PUT ON A SHOW

Not since the champions put six past a hopeless Aberdeen outfit back in November had the Celtic Park patrons really seen their team take an opponent apart in the manner to which they have been accustomed to seeing over the years. But they let the handbrake loose here, and Dundee had no answer. They had hit six by the break.

The football may have been simple, but it was devastatingly effective, with the visitors unable to cope with the crosses that were being swung into their area from the wings, something that Celtic haven’t been doing nearly enough this term.

It was the first time that the fans had been able to sing about watching their team putting on a show or piling on the agony in quite some time, and how they revelled in it. The first half, with six goals and news of a short-lived Kilmarnock lead against Rangers drifting through, was just about perfect from their point of view.

Indeed, had a spectacular O’Riley half volley been an inch lower instead of cracking off the bar, it would have been even worse for the shell-shocked Dees, who even had to suffer the indignity of having a Curtis Main consolation just before half time chalked off for offside after a VAR check.

Given how tight the title race currently is, goal difference may well be a factor come the final shake up too, so this was a timely fillip for Celtic in more ways than one.

NO CASE FOR DIRE DUNDEE DEFENCE

Where to start? As much as Celtic deserve the lion’s share of the kudos for their attacking display, it would be remiss not to mention that Dundee were the most gracious of guests with their complete inability to defend.

The Celtic fans have been used to teams coming to the East End of Glasgow this season and sitting deep in a low block, frustrating their team, who have often struggled to come up with the answers to that particular riddle.

The solution here though was to simply get crosses into the area, with the movement and strength of the Celtic players too much for the Dundee defenders to live with.

Tony Docherty and his men have deservedly received a lot of credit for their performances since their return to the top-flight, and while anyone can catch a hiding off the Old Firm when they are at it, both the manager and his players will be massively disappointed with their performance here.

BRIGHT PROSPECT KELLY GETS OFF THE MARK

One of the luxuries of being six goals to the good with half the game still to go is that you can rest your key men, and Rodgers took full advantage, withdrawing the likes of McGregor and Carter-Vickers to give them a valuable rest ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tynecastle.

It was young Kelly who came on to replace the Celtic captain, and he didn’t look remotely out of place. In fact, he helped himself to a brilliantly taken goal for his side’s seventh of the night, curling a beautiful finish past Carson and into the top corner from just inside the area.

A valid criticism of Celtic in recent years is that they haven’t managed to get enough of their academy talent into the first team, but this is a young man who looks to have a very bright future.

ALISTAIR JOHNSTON BACK IN THE GROOVE

Even before the fracture to his skull that put him out of action for a few weeks recently, it would be fair to say that the right back hasn’t quite been able to find the form that was the hallmark of his first season at Celtic, but he looked back to his old self here.

He got a couple of assists to his name to add to the one he chalked up for Idah’s late winner at Fir Park, and was a threat all evening as he bombed up and down the right. Much more like it from the Canadian.