Neil Lennon spoke about a Utopian display after Celtic romped through to the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup with a 7-0 humiliation of Hearts at Tynecastle, handing the Gorgie side their biggest defeat in 40 years.
The cup holders were knocked out of Europe with a 3-0 Champions League defeat by AC Milan on Tuesday night and they took their frustrations out on the Jambos to lead 5-0 at half-time, with a Kris Commons double and goals from skipper Scott Brown, Joe Ledley and Mikael Lustig.
Commons completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 58th minute with Brown grabbing his second and the Hoops’ seventh in the 74th minute with a volley from the edge of the box.
The Celtic boss said: “If you are looking for Utopia then that first half was probably it.
“All five goals were breathtaking and the performance itself was the best I’ve seen certainly in my time as manager and that’s what we have been looking for for a few months now.
“And off the back of what was a disappointing exit in the Champions League, the players have shown what a good team they are.
“We showed remarkable character today and I know people will say it is only Hearts, a young team, but I thought we were amazing, absolutely amazing.”
Hearts boss Gary Locke was understandably despondent after watching his young side being dismantled in what was the Edinburgh club’s biggest defeat since they lost 7-0 at home to city rivals Hibernian in 1973.
The former Jambos skipper said: “My worry from the start of the season is that something like that might happen.
“It was a harsh lesson but sometimes you have to hold your hands up we were outclassed. Celtic, playing like that, would probably beat anyone by three or four. It is important that we learn from it.
“There were a few goals that were preventable, we can’t keep making basic mistakes, especially for their second goal, which was disappointing as we turned our backs and they play a 10-yard pass and score.
“We have to do better on occasions like that but sometimes you have to give the opposition some credit.
“I thought they were fantastic, they have world-class players and they punished us today.”