THERE was nothing St Johnstone could do to stop Celtic having a ball.
Or Ryan Christie heading home with one.
Mikey Johnston, Olivier Ntcham, Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths all hit goals in a sensational team performance.
But it was Christie who raised the roof with a hat-trick as he oozed class with a stunning individual display.
He set up the first and then scored three before being substituted and leaving the pitch to a standing ovation.
Lennon’s side scored another three goals after he took his seat on the bench to leave the Perth utterly dejected.
Tommy Wright will know that this St Johnstone performance doesn’t reflect well on him.
For all Celtic flexed their muscles with a strong and powerful display, the proud Northern Irishman’s side were unbelievably weak and timid both individually and collectively.
It can’t be easy playing at Celtic Park on a day like this.
TheVerdict
CELTIC
Scott Bain 6
Hatem Abd Elhamed 6
Nir Bitton 6
Kris Ajer 7
Boli Bolingoli 6
Scott Brown 7
Callum McGregor 7
James Forrest 7
Ryan Christie 9
Mikey Johnston 7
Odsonne Edouard 8
SUBS
Anthony Ralston 4 (Elhamed, 50)
Olivier Ntcham 4 (Christie, 70)
Leigh Griffiths 5 (Johnstone, 76)
STJOHNSTONE
Zander Clark 3
Madis Vihmann 4
Jason Kerr 5
Wallace Duffy 5
Richard Foster 5
Ross Callachan 4
Murray Davidson 4
Liam Craig 4
Scott Tanser 4
Matty Kennedy 4
Michael O’Halloran 4
SUBS
Ally McCann (Callachan, 45)
Callum Hendry (Kennedy, 65)
Even before a ball was kicked there was a party atmosphere that came with the unfurling of the title flag.
The widows of legends Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers, Liz and Sadie, took to the pitch to a rousing reception to help with the officials ceremony.
And the home fans didn’t let up all afternoon.
But St Johnstone really didn’t help themselves with how half-hearted their efforts were.
Their season won’t succeed or fail on games against the champions.
But – like their Betfred Cup defeats to Forfar and Montrose – this was still nowhere near good enough.
Celtic would probably have dismantled most Premiership teams given the mood they were in, right enough.
They took the lead after nine minutes when Christie played forward a one-touch crossfield pass for Johnston to burst onto.
The winger was up against Wallace Duffy, a young defender who was only released by Celtic at the end of last season.
But despite the fact he’s probably been faced up by Johnston a thousand times in training down the years, he didn’t seem to have the first idea of how to stop him.
Duffy was twisted one way, and then the other, with the Celtic starlet almost teasing him before slotting his shot part Zander Clark.
It was a brilliant goal all told, Christie’s initial pass forward sublime before Johnstone’s quick-footed trickery.
Saints were all set up to defend but they hadn’t even got to the ten minute stage of the game level.
In fairness they weathered the storm that came after that. Briefly, at any rate.
Celtic had a couple of half chances which came and went before the tempo of the match dropped.
Wright switched from a three to a back four to try and get some sort of foothold in the game. But he was wasting his time.
Christie had this game grabbed by the scruff of the neck and he wasn’t for letting go.
He made it 2-0 on 25 minutes after taking a pass on the half turn from James Forrest.
From the moment it was on his way to him, Christie only had one thought in his head and that was to unleash a left-footed shot past Clark and he did it brilliantly.
The Saints No1 didn’t have much hope of keeping it out but three minutes later he was guilty of an absolute howler.
Christie hit a decent shot from the edge of the box but there’s no way it should have ended up in the back of the net.
Clark, though, seemed to take his eye off it at the last second as it hit his forearm on its way past him.
Wright stood out on the touchline barking at his players to give him more aggression with his frustration clear to see.
Murray Davidson and Ross Callachan tried to get physical with Scott Brown but the Celtic skipper literally shrugged off their attempts. Matty Kennedy also bounced off Hatem Abd Elhamed in another hopelessly meek challenge before half-time.
Celtic’s new Israeli right-back had a reasonably impressive performance before limping off with what looked like a dead leg five minutes into the second half.
St Johnstone did all they could to avoid a second half embarrassment but one was coming whether they liked it or not.
Lennon’s side were happy to be patient in the final third.
But Christie soon had the home supporters up off their feet as he claimed his hat-trick in style.
His third goal was struck as sweet as a nut with the ball flying past Clark and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Christie just stood with his arms out as he celebrated with his team-mates.
Lennon substituted him only a few moments later and hugged him tightly as Celtic Park saluted his performance.
The Saints defence must have been delighted to see the back of him, But Celtic weren’t finished yet.
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Ntcham stepped off the bench to take Christie’s place and within seconds he was racing through to score, his shot beating Clark at his near post which again didn’t make him look too clever.
The final whistle couldn’t come quickly enough for the visitors. But their agony continued.
In 79 minutes they conceded their sixth of the day with Edouard running through, rounding keeper Clark and passing into the empty net.
Griffiths then got in on the act.
In 85 minutes he moved into space on the edge of the box before rifling a lot shot into the bottom corner.
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