Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0-4 Celtic

Scott Sinclair curled in his 17th goal of the season just before half-time

Celtic cruised to their 22nd straight Scottish Premiership victory to move 27 points clear at the top and within seven points of a sixth straight title.

Celtic dominated possession but had to wait until the 43rd minute before Scott Sinclair curled home a superb opener.

Their second came 12 seconds into the second half, Moussa Dembele tapping in after a howler from Owain Fon Williams.

Stuart Armstrong's whipped free-kick then beat the Welshman at his near post before Dembele chipped in his second.

It was the Frenchman's 31st goal of a stellar debut season, and his 11th in five games.

With a 27-point lead over Aberdeen with 11 games left and a huge advantage in goal difference, two more wins would effectively be enough for Celtic to retain their title.

Defeat left Caley Thistle two points adrift of Motherwell and Hamilton at the bottom.

Celtic's one 'blemish' of their entire Premiership season had come at the Caledonian Stadium way back in September, when Inverness emerged with a precious point from a 2-2 draw, despite a dominant display from the visitors.

This match followed a similar pattern initially, the champions-elect enjoying the majority of possession as they regularly manoeuvred themselves behind Caley lines, only to be repelled by the hosts' defensive resolve.

Dembele, who scored a Scottish Cup hat-trick against the same opponents last month, had a couple of early sighters; his first from a tight angle brought a comfortable save from Fon Williams, while a snap-shot from 20 yards was also easy meat for the Caley keeper.

Stuart Armstrong became the fifth Celtic player this season to reach double figures in goals

Gary Mackay-Steven, back in the side for the unfit James Forrest, forced the home keeper into further action with a left-foot drive that he did well to beat away for a corner.

The hosts had the odd glimpse of goal themselves, Liam Polworth with a speculative early long-ranger, while Billy Mckay cut in from the right but his left-foot shot barely troubled Craig Gordon.

With two minutes of the first half remaining, the hosts would have been congratulating themselves on a job well done.

But Sinclair showed strength to ride Ross Draper's challenge and then sublime skill to unleash a powerful 25-yarder curling beyond the reach of Fon Williams into the right corner.

If that goal was a thing of beauty, Celtic's second was pure comedy.

Inverness kicked off the second half but Gary Warren's slack back-pass was immediately intercepted by the alert Dembele, whose touch was too heavy to capitalise.

But Fon Williams made a horrendous mess of his clearing kick, slicing it up in the air. Dembele tried to hook the high ball left-footed over the keeper, but had time to readjust and meet the dropping ball with a simple right-footed finish.

That effectively settled the contest, and Sinclair should have scored again in the 51st minute after a powerful run and precise pass from Dembele, but the winger could only fire wildly over.

Dembele scored his second goal, and 31st of the season, with an exquisite finish

It mattered not. Armstrong, showing more of the form that could lead to a Scotland call-up in the next few weeks, fired in a superb free-kick from 25 yards for his 10th goal of a highly productive season, though Fon Williams had cause to look at his positioning.

Caley rallied briefly, Polworth warming Gordon's palms with a dipping volley that the Celtic keeper tipped over.

But moments later it was all over, Dembele racing away onto Kieran Tierney's excellent pass and caressing the ball over the advancing Fon Williams with a delicate chip.

The visitors - now unbeaten in 33 domestic games - might have added further to their tally, but Sinclair scuffed his effort wide when sent through on goal late on.

Post-match reaction:

Caley boss Richie Foran: "It's extremely disappointing. We lacked courage on the ball, we lacked belief on the ball. I'm not even sure Celtic got out of second gear. We never got going.

"I find it hard to think of a player that did well. The whole 11 lacked courage. Off the ball we were OK; on the ball we didn't want to pass forward and take responsibility.

"On the counter we had the ability but we didn't have the belief to go with it. It doesn't matter how good Celtic were. We had opportunities to play and get forward but we didn't fancy it.

"The second goal was comical. It's embarrassing. But we were poor all over the park. At least three of the goals we conceded were avoidable."

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "It was an outstanding team performance. Collectively we defended very well and it was probably one of the most complete performances since I have been here.

"It is how I want the team to play - defensively very compact, hunting in packs, giving little space to the opponent and when we had the ball, attacking with fluidity and a goal threat.

"The work ethic typified the mentality of the team, with hunger and pressure from the front. That is why we have kept so many clean sheets.

"The plan coming in was to have more goal-scorers in the squad. Young Leigh (Griffiths) was outstanding last season, getting 40, and only Tom Rogic got near him with 10. But the way I like my team to play means we have an attacking threat from all areas of the team."