Celtic swept Rangers away with an emphatic second-half performance to record their first Ibrox success in seven years.

Lubo Moravcik netted a sweetly-converted double before Henrik Larsson notched his 50th goal of the season late on.

It was also Rangers' third successive home defeat and further proof, if any were needed, of how much Martin O'Neill's team has dominated Scottish football in his first season north of the border.

For Rangers all there remains after this humiliation on their own patch is the picking up of another point to confirm Champions League football next season.

Celtic can now look forward to clinching the Treble by lifting the Scottish Cup safe in the knowledge that every other task, apart from one amazing, irrelevant blip at Ibrox earlier in the season, had been achieved.

The scenes at the end said it all - Celtic fans with their scarves aloft singing to seas of empty blue seats elsewhere.

Much had been made beforehand of the significance of Rangers' injuries this season but this was almost a full-strength side that ended up second best.

The match kicked off at a frantic pace and there were some hefty challenges from the off.

One came from Craig Moore, Rangers' only change from the previous game, and was perfectly timed on Tommy Johnson.

But as the ball ran loose to Alan Thompson in came Barry Ferguson with his studs showing and the Celtic man was felled.

The Rangers skipper, who had been sent off at Celtic Park in August, found himself on a yellow card within eight minutes of the first whistle.

The early pressure came from the home side with Jorg Albertz eager to let fly from distance.

But the German, whose pre-match belittling of Celtic had helped to stoke up the atmosphere, had difficulty finding the target.

Ferguson had scored a first-half opener in November's 5-1 thrashing of the champions and almost produced an even more impressive strike in the 21st minute.

Paul Lambert lost possession in midfield to allow Ferguson to stride goalwards and plant a chip over Rab Douglas that also just cleared the crossbar.

Rangers came even closer from their next attack and Rod Wallace, the striker playing behind front pairing Billy Dodds and Tore Andre Flo, was the culprit.

Albertz played a lovely ball inside Didier Agathe to allow Arthur Numan to cross from the left onto the head of Wallace right in front of goal.

Douglas was beaten by his downward header but the smile was soon back on the goalkeeper's face when he saw it bounce past his far post.

Celtic had struggled to create much from open play but had caused problems instead from set-pieces, with Johan Mjallby getting free at the far post following the Ferguson booking.

The Swede could not hit the target and Celtic went in at half-time having increased the quality and length of their possession of the ball but looking no more dangerous.

Larsson, again having to play with Johnson in the absence of Chris Sutton, had not been given a sniff of a chance.

The meaty challenges were still coming in though and Ferguson was perhaps fortunate to escape another early sending off when he clattered Lambert right in front of referee Stuart Dougal.

That was also the case when Dodds kicked Mjallby after being fouled, presumably by accident as the free-kick went Rangers' way and no further action was taken.

Numan's battle with Agathe was an interesting sideshow, with the Dutchman just able to cope with the Celtic man's immense pace.

Moravcik's first half had been a quiet one, with Ferguson running the show in midfield. But it was the veteran Slovak who opened the scoring, leaving Ferguson trailing in the process.

Ricksen conceded a foul and Neil Lennon, who had been booed constantly by the home fans and had just been booked for felling Ferguson, took the free-kick.

He played it to the feet of Larsson just outside the area and with Bert Konterman at his back.

The Swede held the ball up and then slipped it into Moravcik's path, with Ferguson having failed to track his run into the box.

The finish was an assured one, a rolled side-foot past Stefan Klos, who was unable to make what would have been his first real save of the afternoon.

That prompted two very different substitutions, with Rangers taking Konterman off and sending on play-maker Tugay.

Celtic replaced Johnson with 18-year-old Sean Maloney and he almost scored within two minutes of coming on.

Lennon's tackle on Amoruso set up a counter-attack that saw three Celtic men with just a single defender facing them and Larsson set up the youngster.

His finish was straight at Klos - but not long after he was celebrating a goal assist.

Douglas hoofed the ball downfield, Maloney headed on and Moravcik sent the away fans ecstatic by turning Ricksen in the box and stroking the second past Klos.

Rangers, who had seen Amoruso stretchered off with what appeared an ankle injury after that Lennon tackle, knew they had to reply straight away if they were to save the game.

Tugay saw a shot blocked, the ball fell kindly for Flo in the box but his reactions were too slow and he was closed down.

Ricksen was booked for using a leading elbow on Thompson, becoming the third Ranger to be yellow-carded alongside Ferguson and Craig Moore.

Maloney almost scored again when Thompson found him unmarked at the far post but again Klos was in the way.

Moravcik was withdrawn to huge applause by the away following and his replacement, Jackie McNamara, set up Larsson for the killer third strike.

The Swede rounded Klos and despite a taxing angle managed to squeeze the ball into the net for his 50th goal of an amazing season.

Larsson almost made it four but with Moore closing him down he could only fire at Klos.

It was Celtic's day and Celtic's season, with the only black mark being the less-than-perfect observance of a minute's silence by a tiny minority of away fans in memory of former Rangers great Jim Baxter.

Teams

Rangers: Klos, Moore, Konterman (Tugay 65), Amoruso (Wilson 72), Ricksen, Ferguson, Albertz, Numan, Wallace, Flo, Dodds (Fernandes 73).

Subs Not Used: Christiansen, Leven.

Booked: Ferguson, Moore, Ricksen.

Celtic: Douglas, Mjallby, Vega, Valgaeren, Agathe, Lennon, Lambert (Boyd 89), Moravcik (McNamara 86), Thompson, Johnson (Maloney 67), Larsson.

Subs Not Used: Gould, Healy.

Booked: Lennon.

Goals: Moravcik 61, 74, Larsson 87.

Att: 50,057

Ref: S Dougal (Scotland).