Joe Ledley and Ki Sung-Yeung also on the scoresheet as Hoops cruise to victory ahead of next weekend's first Old Firm clash of the season at Ibrox
Celtic jumped into second place in the Scottish Premier League at the expense of Motherwell, keeping themselves in touch with Rangers with a 4-0 win at Celtic Park.
James Forrest, Joe Ledley and Ki Sung-Yeung bagged the goals in a comfortable Celtic performance, with Motherwell only enjoying brief spells of possession.
Stuart McCall’s visitors have made an impressive start to the season, with McCall himself picking up the first manager of the month gong of the new campaign, but drop a place to third following their second defeat of the season.
The Bhoys jump above their opponents into second place, cancelling out Rangers’ earlier victory over Dundee United to ensure the gap between the two sides remains just one point.
Neil Lennon gave new signing Badr El Kaddouri his debut at left-back, while Ledley and Adam Matthews replaced the injured Scott Brown and Cha Du Ri.
Motherwell made one change to the side that beat Dunfermline 4-2, with Shaun Hutchinson replacing Chris Humphrey, who dropped to the bench.
It took Celtic just eight minutes to take control of the game through Forrest. Good play from Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes put the winger through on goal and he made no mistake, beating goalkeeper Darren Randolph to open the scoring.
The Steelmen responded positively after that, enjoying a productive spell of pressure but were punished for their failure to take advantage of it when Ledley doubled his side’s tally after a neat one-two with Stokes minutes after Hooper had hit the crossbar.
Celtic could have extended their lead before half-time when Forrest’s effort from outside the box skimmed the post, with the shaky Randolph also spilling Ledley’s hopeful effort only to be bailed out by his defenders.
A tepid second half kicked into life after 67 minutes when Ki put the game to bed. The South Korean midfielder let fly with a trademark rocket that flew past Randolph into the top corner from around 20 yards.
And after Beram Kayal had hit the post, Forrest concluded the scoring with his second of the game from inside the area after a strong run into Motherwell territory, leaving the league table nicely poised for the first Old Firm match-up of the season at Ibrox next weekend.
