A CLINICAL FIRST-half display helped Celtic to a 3-1 win over Hamilton as the Scottish champions extended their unbeaten domestic run to 69 matches.
Olivier Ntcham fired Celtic in front with a superb volley in the 12th minute before Daniel Redmond levelled for Hamilton against the run of play.
However, two goals in a minute from James Forrest and Scott Sinclair handed Celtic a two-goal cushion at the break and they saw out the win to move onto 41 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
“We made some changes and tried something slightly different tonight, but I thought the players worked it really well,” Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said.
“It was a good win for us because Hamilton have had some really good victories this season.”
Rivals Rangers remain five points behind in second place as they came from behind to claim a 2-1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road, while Aberdeen stay third on goal difference following their 3-0 win at St Johnstone.
The supporters who packed into a bitterly cold Celtic Park were warmed up by four superb first-half strikes.
Moments after coming close with a curling effort, French midfielder Ntcham’s stunning strike handed Celtic the lead.
Sinclair burst to the byline and floated a cut-back to the far post, where Ntcham was on hand to smash a volley beyond the despairing Gary Woods.
Ntcham seemed to be shooting every time he had sight of the Hamilton goal and only a fine diving save from Woods kept another effort on the half-volley from sneaking in.
It looked like it was just a matter of time before Celtic had a second, but Hamilton grabbed an equaliser out of the blue.
Darian MacKinnon’s pass from the left found Redmond at the edge of the box and he spun to send a superb looping effort over Craig Gordon and into the top corner.
The goal handed Hamilton hope, but Celtic quickly reasserted control.
A clever pass from Stuart Armstrong played in Forrest, who beat the offside trap to round Woods and slot home.
The winger turned provider for Sinclair, who took a couple of touches just inside the box before expertly curling the ball into the far corner.
Celtic looked to pick up where they had left off after the break, with Odsonne Edouard’s effort blocked by the legs of Woods before Armstrong sent a shot narrowly wide.
Hamilton should have pulled another goal back in the 69th minute when Greg Docherty’s cross found Rakish Bingham unmarked in the box, but the striker sliced his effort wide of the target.
Docherty’s pace then caused panic in the Celtic defence as he burst into the box before Bingham hit the post with a low angled strike as Hamilton exerted more pressure without any reward.
Hamilton manager Martin Canning bemoaned his side’s missed chances.
“We created three or four real good opportunities in the second half that we probably should have done better with,” he said.
“Ultimately the two goals just before half-time killed the game for us, but I was pleased with the effort, commitment and quality from the boys.”
