Magnificent Aiden McGeady was Celtic's chief tormentor against Aberdeen, running the desperate Dons ragged to help secure a stunning 5-1 victory in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League for Gordon Strachan's rampant side.

McGeady crossed for Shunsuke Nakamura's opener and added a second through a sumptuous low shot, before Scott McDonald converted a penalty just before the break having been fouled by Josh Walker.

A sensational turn from McGeady in the 47th minute then allowed McDonald to net with a close-range header and while Lee Miller's powerful strike pulled a goal back for Aberdeen, Celtic's wonderful afternoon was completed in style by Barry Robson.

The recent signing from Dundee United curled in a free-kick to score with his first ever touch for the Glasgow club.

This defeat rounded off a miserable week for Aberdeen, who suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Dundee United in the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final on Tuesday night.

Dons manager Jimmy Calderwood tried to shore up his porous defence from that game by bringing Dave Bus and Alan Maybury into his back line, with both players making their first starts for the Pittodrie club.

However, Aberdeen's new-look defence was ripped apart with McGeady at the heart of Celtic's brilliant performance.

Derek Young may have headed over in just 20 seconds after purposefully meeting a cross from Maybury, but Celtic soon made their intentions clear.

McGeady's cross found Scott Brown and the Scotland international arced a header towards goal that smacked against Jamie Langfield's far post.

Despite going on to score three first-half goals, the visitors were fortunate not to have fallen behind when Young cut a pass back to Darren Mackie who inexplicably pushed a shot wide after being faced with an open goal.

Aberdeen were made to regret their failure to take that opportunity as early as the 17th minute when Celtic took the lead, with Nakamura arriving at the back post to latch on to McGeady's low centre and tap the ball over the line.

The Dons were down to 10 men at the time, with Barry Nicholson off the pitch due to injury and as the midfielder was unable to continue, Richard Foster was sent on as a replacement.

An afternoon of woe continued for Aberdeen when Mackie raced on to a defence-splitting pass from strike partner Miller but could only slide his shot off the base of Artur Boruc's far post.

Just as with Nakamura's goal, Aberdeen were soon made to pay for missing a goalscoring opportunity as Celtic doubled their advantage through McGeady.

The midfield maestro showed great composure to cut inside from the right, shift the ball on to his favoured foot and curl an exquisite low shot past Langfield from 25 yards out.

Any hopes Aberdeen had of mounting a comeback were then extinguished when Walker brought down McDonald in the penalty area and the Australian coolly sent Langfield the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick.

Facing a three-goal deficit Aberdeen's aim for the second period would surely have been to try and restore some pride ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup tie against Bayern Munich.

However, a sumptuous pirouette on the ball saw McGeady once again bemuse the beleaguered Aberdeen back line and from the playmaker's chip McDonald nodded the ball past Langfield from barely a couple of yards out.

Aberdeen finally gave their supporters something to cheer when Miller crashed a shot in off the underside of the bar and in, as Celtic were unable to clear a Scott Severin free-kick.

However, it was the away support who were in raptures 17 minutes from time as Robson replaced Nakamura and immediately beat Langfield with a terrific free-kick.

The game ended with McGeady trying in earnest to score his second goal of the afternoon, but it was not to be.

Langfield parried one shot from the midfielder over, while another McGeady attempt was knocked wide, with Celtic unable to boost an already impressive five-goal haul.

Teams:

Aberdeen (0) 1 Celtic (3) 5

Aberdeen Langfield, Maybury, Diamond (Considine 50), Bus,McNamara, Nicholson (Foster 17), Walker, Severin, Young,Mackie, Miller, Foster (Maguire 63).

Subs Not Used: Soutar, Lovell, Duff, Aluko.

Booked: Walker, Young.

Goals: Miller 62.

Celtic Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor,Nakamura (Robson 73), Hartley, Scott Brown, McGeady,McDonald (Samaras 61), Vennegoor of Hesselink (Killen 85).

Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, O'Dea, Sno, Caddis.

Booked: McGeady.

Goals: Nakamura 17, McGeady 34, McDonald 44 pen, 48, Robson 74.

Att: 14,651

Ref: C Thomson (Scotland).