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A week after his first victory as a manager in an Old Firm game was greeted with noise to make the eardrums bleed, Derek McInnes was able to savour the sound of silence as he repeated the trick on enemy soil.
Any thought that Rangers’ emphatic triumph at Ibrox was some kind of anomaly can now be dismissed.
Ignore what the league table may say at this early juncture in the season. The balance of power in Glasgow has shifted and it’s done so in what feels like the blink of an eye.
All over the place in the early weeks of the campaign as they stumbled from one horror show to the next, Rangers now look like the real deal under their new manager.
They won the battle here and played football with a fluency and an intelligence which Celtic could only aspire to. How long ago that dismal loss to Jablonec now feels.
On the back of six straight victories, the Ibrox men go into the international break feeling that it’s an interruption they could well live without.
Ryan Naderi scores what proved to be the only goal of the game to silence Celtic Park
Not only have they turned the corner, they’re motoring. If they maintain this rate of travel, Celtic’s slender two-point lead in the title race will be overtaken in short order.
Not only did McInnes have the right game plan to back up the victory in the League Cup, he had all the best players on the field. They had more energy, desire and craft than anyone in the opposing side.
From the instant Ryan Naderi turned home a loose ball with 12 minutes of the first half remaining, the Ibrox men already looked good for the victory.
They dealt with Celtic’s threats – such as they were – with effortless ease. They played with courage and composure. The only thing missing from their display was the second goal which would have removed all doubt long before the final whistle.
All Old Firm games feel hugely significant. This was especially so for McInnes and also for the increasingly forlorn figure of Martin O’Neill.
For the first time as Celtic manager, the Northern Irishman had presided over three straight defeats.
With the capitulation in LASK the catalyst for the debacle at Ibrox and the meek surrender to Ferencvaros, this was a game O’Neill had to win – or at the very least, see some signs of promise from his charges.
It was another pitiful effort from all concerned. In terms of the hierarchy’s unfathomable approach to running a football club, the chickens came home to roost a long time ago.
German forward Naderi slides to his knees in celebration after a week of injury uncertainty
This, though, felt like the day when any hope that O’Neill’s sorcery could keep the whole thing afloat ended.
The veteran should have walked away in the summer on the back of an unlikely Double ahead of a major reset.
He should never have been asked to go again by the club’s powerbroker and he should never have accepted. It all now feels destined to end in tears.
After two dismal performances, O’Neill really had no choice but to change tack. For the first time this season, he switched to a back three. Luke McCowan was the surprise inclusion in a supporting midfield role with Benjamin Nygren also playing off Camilo Duran. It just did not work.
With Naderi passed fit, unsurprisingly, McInnes’ side was unchanged from seven days previously at Ibrox.
Daizen Maeda was back at the place he called home for four years. What O’Neill would have given for his battling qualities in recent times.
McCowan’s first involvement was a slack pass to Naderi. The German threaded the ball through to Djeidi Gassama who took a heavy touch and lost a fine chance to strike first.
Manny Fernandez’s strength eased Duran off the ball in their first joust. In their second, the Colombian’s pace drew a booking for the Rangers defender.
Celtic's beaten players are a picture of frustration at full-time after offering little hope to fans
It was typically feisty. Referee John Beaton next dipped into his pocket to show yellows to McInnes and Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham following a heated verbal exchange.
Celtic did have the ball in the net when Auston Trusty slammed home a volley, although he already knew that Liam Scales was offside.
There was a little more aggression from O’Neill’s players than was witnessed a week ago. That wasn’t difficult. Still, Rangers won the vast majority of the second balls. Naderi’s hold-up play allowed the visitors to gain plenty of territory.
The basics began to look beyond O’Neill’s players, typified by Liam Scales sending one ball straight out of play while under no pressure.
O’Neill was incensed when Dujon Sterling left a bit on Nygren while clearing his lines. Beaton wasn’t interested.
Celtic lacked imagination. The final ball which O’Neill had identified as the missing ingredient in the last two matches was again conspicuous by its absence. The same could be said of composure and bravery on the ball.
Rangers should have been in front before they made it count. Gassama sped away from Colby Donovan and pulled the ball back to the edge of the penalty box. Dan Neil’s shot was weak and easily saved by Viljami Sinisalo. The Finn also easily plucked James Penrice’s header from the sky.
Rangers boss Derek McInnes and Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham tussle on the touchline
Celtic’s most promising moment arrived when they moved the ball from right to left at pace. Nygren found McCowan, who rolled the ball into Tierney’s path. A rising strike slapped the top of the bar. O’Neill would quickly rue that moment.
The manner of Rangers’ opener said everything about the lack of Celtic’s defensive mettle. Penrice’s corner was nodded clear by Scales. Kim Minsu was allowed to shoot from the edge of the box because no one in green and white charged out to meet him.
When Sinisalo dived to his left to palm the shot away, Naderi was first to react. A smart low finish silenced Parkhead.
It could have been worse for the champions at the break. McCowan gave the ball away and watched Gassama take a delightful first touch before clipping the post. Kevin Kelsy’s follow up was blocked.
McCowan was replaced by Kasper Hogh at the break. Celtic restarted positively. Mika Baur’s cross was met at the back post by the head of Donovan. Ivor Pandur pulled off a reflex save.
So fragile were Celtic, though, that a second Rangers goal early in the second half would have sealed it.
Penrice dashed into the box and tried to steer his left foot shot beyond Sinisalo. The Finn did just enough.
When Kim was able to ride three challenges and let fly, O’Neill looked even more exasperated. While the Korean’s shot flew just wide, Celtic were living dangerously.
Kasper Hogh came off the bench for Celtic but got little change out of Olwethu Makhanya
A routine ball over the top exposed Scales. Naderi did Callum McGregor for pace. On the stretch, Kelsy couldn’t convert the cross.
James Forrest replaced the ineffective Nygren. Celtic continued to huff and puff. McGregor, so often the difference in these games, was caught on the ball time and time again and was eventually booked. Tierney, the other mainstay, increasingly looked lost and was subbed.
Olwethu Makhanya found the net after a half-cleared corner only for VAR to spot that his ball juggling on the edge of the box had been a little too literal.
What was striking, although by no means surprising, was how devoid of ideas Celtic looked as the clock ticked down. Sideways passes and aimless crosses were as good as it got. They looked absolutely clueless. It’s a recurring theme.
