Goals from Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate sent Celtic 16 points ahead of Rangers in the William Hill Premiership as the champions beat Dundee United 2-0 in a nostalgia-tinged night at Parkhead.
Maeda netted on the rebound midway through an utterly one-sided first half as Celtic increased their lead, at least until Rangers face Dundee at Dens Park on Thursday.
The Celtic supporters who braved temperatures of -5C in Glasgow hid any tension as United proved hard to fully shake off though in a more competitive second period before Hatate killed off the game in the 83rd minute.
Manager Brendan Rodgers had called for some fans to be more patient after detecting groans at backward passes during his side's 3-0 win over St Mirren.
He had also accused supporters in the standing section of being disrespectful to left-back Greg Taylor by singing the name of transfer target Kieran Tierney.
The fans responded by reprising songs for a full team of other former players and manager Martin O’Neill.
Songs about Artur Boruc, Mikael Lustig, Billy McNeil, Charlie Mulgrew, Tommy Burns, Victor Wanyama, Jimmy Johnstone, Scott Sinclair, Jota, Odsonne Edouard and Henrik Larsson all received an airing.
The fans rounded off their back catalogue with a stoppage-time burst of their song about Tierney, who is believed to be close to agreeing a pre-contract deal to return to Parkhead.
Nicolas Kuhn was a very late withdrawal from an initially unchanged Celtic team. Yang Hyun-jun was promoted from the bench.
United manager Jim Goodwin made five changes after observing a lack of energy in his team during Sunday’s defeat by Hearts, which ended a strong festive period that had started with a goalless home draw against the champions.
Premiership top goalscorer Sam Dalby was among those dropping to the bench while Kevin Holt was absent from the 20-man squad.
Goodwin got little attacking energy in an utterly one-sided first half but his players put in a major defensive shift in a 45 minutes which resembled an attack versus defence training session.
The United boss would have been frustrated with the nature of the opener after his side appeared to have cleared Alistair Johnston’s cross.
The ball fell for Luke McCowan just inside the box after Richard Odada fired a shin-height pass off Vicko Sevelj and the former Dundee midfielder’s shot fell for Maeda after being parried by Jack Walton. The Japan attacker slotted home.
Auston Trusty had earlier headed off the top of the bar following one of 10 first-half corners from Arne Engels. The Belgium midfielder was Celtic’s most threatening player, also firing some teasing balls across the face of goal and coming close himself on several occasions.
United ended the half without a shot, a corner or a cross – Celtic had 27 – with only one touch in the home penalty area and 16 per cent possession.
There was a swift improvement after the break although Kai Fotheringham and Glenn Middleton were well off target from their first sights of goal.
Celtic had chances to kill the game off earlier than they did. Maeda turned Taylor’s driven cross wide and United goalkeeper Jack Walton parried substitute Kyogo Furuhashi’s header from another Engels corner.
Kasper Schmeichel managed his first save in the 70th minute, turning Middleton’s powerful strike past his near post and soon caught Fotheringham’s header.
The game remained in the balance until Hatate swept the ball into the top corner after fellow sub Paulo Bernardo had dummied Maeda’s lay-off.
