Leigh Griffiths claimed a hat-trick as Celtic inflicted an eight-goal thrashing on Hamilton at Celtic Park.
Ronny Deila's side scored five times in the opening half, Mikael Lustig, Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic putting them 3-0 ahead after a mere 10 minutes.
Griffiths completed his hat-trick after the break, with James Forrest also scoring to make it six.
Eamonn Brophy scored Hamilton's goal to make it 7-1 before Callum McGregor drove in number eight.
It was the biggest win since the formation of the Scottish Premiership in 2013 and the biggest for Celtic since their 9-0 victory over Aberdeen in November 2010, and means the Scottish Premiership leaders are six points clear of second-placed Aberdeen.
Hamilton were deeply fortunate that it was not a whole lot worse. Eight goals could have been 12 or 14 - and that is no exaggeration. Michael McGovern made some decent saves in the Hamilton goal and Celtic wasted a few other opportunities.
McGovern was Hamilton's best player. In truth, along with the substitute Brophy, he was their only player. The rest were soft touches; easy prey to Celtic's vultures.
The rhythm of the evening was established after just 51 seconds when Griffiths had a shot hacked off the line. So lax in that moment, Hamilton did not - or could not - learn the lesson.
Lustig, standing free three yards out, nodded in a Stuart Armstrong free-kick. Bitton thundered in the second from 30 yards and Rogic's shot went in off Michael Devlin for the third.
The game was just 10 minutes old and Hamilton had lost the plot. Their defending was an abomination, their wastefulness in possession the source of so many of their problems.
Celtic were sharp and relentless - the measure of Hamilton's nightmares. Yet another miscued Hamilton pass found Gary Mackay-Steven, who ran hard and played in Griffiths, who, unsurprisingly, scored.
Hamilton were brushed aside at Celtic Park
The fifth was, again, painfully easy. Rogic slid a cross along the floor into the six-yard box, Hamilton tried to play offside and got it horrendously wrong and Griffiths tapped in.
Deila brought on Forrest and Scott Allan at the break and the latter set up the former for the sixth. As wretched as Hamilton were, some of the stuff that Celtic played in tearing them to ribbons was pretty smart.
It helps, of course, when your opponent is all at sea. When Devlin dallied at the back, Griffiths ransacked him of the ball and then gently lobbed McGovern for 7-0.
A surging run and goal from Brophy briefly halted Celtic's procession, but McGregor thumped in the eighth late on.
Celtic cruise on merrily at the top. Hamilton, in 10th, continue to sink like a stone.
Lineup, Bookings (0) & Substitutions (6)
Celtic
- 01 Gordon
- 23 Lustig
- 04 Ambrose
- 05 Simunovic (Forrest - 45' )
- 03 Izaguirre
- 06 Bitton
- 42 McGregor
- 16 Mackay-Steven
- 18 Rogic (Allan - 45' )
- 14 Armstrong
- 09 Griffiths (Cole - 65' )
Substitutes
- 07 Ciftci
- 15 Commons
- 19 Allan
- 24 Cole
- 26 Bailly
- 49 Forrest
- 63 Tierney
Hamilton Academical
- 01 McGovern
- 02 Gordon
- 04 Devlin
- 44 De Lima Tagliapietra
- 03 Kurakins
- 18 MacKinnon
- 21 Docherty
- 06 Gillespie (Lyon - 84' )
- 12 Kurtaj (Imrie - 45' )
- 11 Crawford
- 09 D'Acol (Brophy - 61' )
Substitutes
- 07 Imrie
- 14 Morris
- 20 Brophy
- 22 Lyon
- 24 Tena
- 26 Martin
- 27 Nade
Match Stats
Live Text Commentary
Full Time Match ends, Celtic 8, Hamilton Academical 1.
90:00 +0:04 Full timeFull Time Second Half ends, Celtic 8, Hamilton Academical 1.
88:50 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 8, Hamilton Academical 1. Callum McGregor (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Scott Allan.
87:43Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Darren Lyon.
83:09 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Darren Lyon replaces Grant Gillespie.
81:52Foul by Scott Allan (Celtic).
81:52Greg Docherty (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
80:11Attempt missed. Eamonn Brophy (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
76:57Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ziggy Gordon.
76:49Attempt blocked. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
75:27Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
72:14 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 7, Hamilton Academical 1. Eamonn Brophy (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Greg Docherty.
71:01Foul by Carlton Cole (Celtic).
71:01Michael Devlin (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
70:14Attempt missed. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
67:30Callum McGregor (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
67:30Foul by Grant Gillespie (Hamilton Academical).
65:53Attempt missed. Scott Allan (Celtic) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
65:26Attempt blocked. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
64:27 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Celtic. Carlton Cole replaces Leigh Griffiths.
Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Michael McGovern.
64:00Attempt saved. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
63:16Attempt saved. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
62:30Attempt blocked. Callum McGregor (Celtic) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is blocked.
60:56 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Eamonn Brophy replaces Alejandro D'Acol.
60:34Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
60:25Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
60:00Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
59:52Foul by Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical).
59:03Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
59:03Foul by Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical).
57:50Attempt blocked. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
57:00Scott Allan (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
56:51Foul by Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical).
53:43 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 7, Hamilton Academical 0. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
52:36 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 6, Hamilton Academical 0. James Forrest (Celtic) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Scott Allan.
45:00Second Half begins Celtic 5, Hamilton Academical 0.
45:00 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Celtic. James Forrest replaces Jozo Simunovic.
45:00 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Celtic. Scott Allan replaces Tomas Rogic because of an injury.
45:00 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Dougie Imrie replaces Gramoz Kurtaj.
45:00 +0:06 Half timeHalf Time First Half ends, Celtic 5, Hamilton Academical 0.
45:00Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.
44:55Foul by Gramoz Kurtaj (Hamilton Academical).
44:33Attempt saved. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from long range on the left is saved in the bottom left corner.
42:14Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
42:14Foul by Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical).
40:19Foul by Nir Bitton (Celtic).
40:19Greg Docherty (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
39:48Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Michael McGovern.
39:33Attempt saved. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
34:27Attempt saved. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom left corner.
33:15 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 5, Hamilton Academical 0. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Tomas Rogic.
32:26Attempt missed. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
30:32Attempt saved. Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) right footed shot from long range on the left is saved in the bottom left corner.
26:41Attempt missed. Efe Ambrose (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
25:33Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Michael Devlin.
24:52Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Michael Devlin.
23:54Hand ball by Mikael Lustig (Celtic).
21:58 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 4, Hamilton Academical 0. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Gary Mackay-Steven.
18:31Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Michael Devlin.
18:22Attempt blocked. Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
17:30Attempt blocked. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
14:50Attempt saved. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
13:51Attempt missed. Gramoz Kurtaj (Hamilton Academical) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
12:08Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Ziggy Gordon.
11:59Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
11:18Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.
11:18Foul by Gramoz Kurtaj (Hamilton Academical).
9:43 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 3, Hamilton Academical 0. Tomas Rogic (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box to the high centre of the goal.
9:11Foul by Gary Mackay-Steven (Celtic).
9:11Antons Kurakins (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
8:10 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 2, Hamilton Academical 0. Nir Bitton (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Callum McGregor.
7:13Attempt missed. Gramoz Kurtaj (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
3:05 Goal scoredGoal! Goal! Celtic 1, Hamilton Academical 0. Mikael Lustig (Celtic) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Stuart Armstrong with a cross.
2:28Stuart Armstrong (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
2:28Foul by Ziggy Gordon (Hamilton Academical).
1:28Attempt missed. Callum McGregor (Celtic) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
1:03Attempt blocked. Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
0:52Attempt saved. Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom left corner.
0:00First Half begins.
0:00Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
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