Celtic recovered from their Champions League woes in style this weekend, as the Hoops moved on from a 6-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday by putting the same scoreline past Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon.
It was a slow burn of a game, however, with four of Celtic's six goals coming after the 75th minute - and three of them coming in second-half injury-time.
Having gone in only 2-0 down at half-time, Aberdeen will have been disappointed to ship six at Celtic Park, but they could have no complaints after a largely lifeless display in Glasgow.
After the game, former Rangers man Kris Boyd would question the efforts of the Dons players, and suggested that they were more motivated by the prospect of taking down Rangers in their next game.
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Rangers legend Boyd issues bitter assessment of Aberdeen's efforts v Celtic
🍀 Celtic thrashed Aberdeen 6-0, with three stoppage-time goals helping maintain their eight-point lead in the #cinchPrem going into the international break ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9WhV5kQbuE
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) November 12, 2023
Celtic put six past Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon but, in reality, it could have been even more.
They split open the Dons' defence with ease throughout, and their 6-0 win puts them eight points clear of Rangers at the top of the SPFL Premiership table.
The next gameweek will see Aberdeen back at Pittodrie, where they will host Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers - and one ex-Gers man seemed to peddle a bizarre conspiracy on Sky Sports on Sunday when looking ahead to that game.
🗣️ "You lose three goals inside seven minutes, it's embarrassing!"
🗣️ "Barry [Robson] won't have a problem getting them up for the next game, because Rangers are in town."
Kris Boyd had some strong words to say about Aberdeen following their 6-0 drubbing against Celtic 👇 pic.twitter.com/sMdvhjQuJR— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) November 12, 2023
Speaking on Sky's live coverage of Celtic v Aberdeen, Kris Boyd would call into question Aberdeen's motivation.
Aberdeen made five changes from the team which earned a Europa Conference League draw away to PAOK on Thursday night - with neither Duk or Irishman Jamie McGrath starting at Celtic Park despite being on the scoresheet in Greece midweek.
Boyd suggested that Aberdeen had capitulated (or downed tools) in the closing moments, before suggesting that manager Barry Robson would not have any similar struggles getting his men motivated in two weeks' time.
Boyd, who made 234 appearances for Rangers over two separate spells, said that his perception of Aberdeen's motivation to down Rangers was a "sad indictment" of the Dons squad:
At 92 minutes you're 3-0 down. Get back on that bus and get back up the road at 3-0. You lose three goals inside seven minutes, and it's now six? It's embarrassing.
We speak about Aberdeen's record off the back of European football...if you are a big club and you say you're a big club, you have to perform in Europe. You have to find a way to do it.
You can speak about the squad's level...there were a few changes there today. There weren't a few changes against Kilmarnock, and they were arguably as bad then as what they were today.
But I'm sure, looking at the fixtures, you can go around about it but Barry will have absolutely no problem getting them up for it in the next game, that's for sure - becuase Rangers are in town.
Fact. It's true, and that's a sad indictment of the players.
Boyd was not the only one to push this bizarre theory, with several Rangers fans taking to local call-in shows to complain that Aberdeen put in less effort when facing Celtic than they did against their cross-city rivals.
It is now over five years since Aberdeen beat Celtic in any competition - in that same time period they have beaten Rangers five times across all competitions.
However, in that time, Celtic have won four titles to Rangers' one, suggesting that this may simply be representative of the gulf in class that exists at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
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