An emotional Ronny Deila ended his tenure as Celtic boss in a “perfect” way as the Hoops romped to a 7-0 win over Motherwell at Parkhead, yesterday.

The Premiership champions hit top form and the rout began in the 21st minute when 18-year-old left-back Kieran Tierney opened the scoring with his first counter for the club before goals from midfielder Tom Rogic and stand-in skipper Mikael Lustig made the second half a breeze.

Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts netted at the start of the second half before Ryan Christie grabbed his first Hoops goal before the hour mark and then debutant substitute Jack Aitchison - who at 16 years and 71 days became the youngest player to play for the Hoops – made it seven with his first touch and left Celtic 15 points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the table.

Deila took the acclaim of the fans after the trophy presentation and it signalled the end of a long goodbye for the Norwegian who confirmed last month that he would be leaving at the end of the season.

Afterwards he said: “It was perfect. It was like you had dreamed of.

“A very good performance, a young team out there who I think is the future of this club, it was 7-0, a sunny day as well, which is not often and a very good atmosphere as normal so it was a perfect ending for me.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila waves to the fans at the end of the match.

“It is a very tough day. It is hard to speak about it to be honest. I am grateful to have been here.

“I learned so much in two fantastic years. I am going to enjoy the new life now.

“There are going to be new opportunities, but these two years will always be special to me but right now it is too much to take in.”

Aberdeen slumped to a 4-0 home defeat to Ross County at Pittodrie.

Brian Graham (23), Alex Schalk (45) and Liam Boyce (68) put the Staggies well in charge and Martin Woods rounded off the scoring with a stunning long-range strike in the 78th minute which gave debutant Australian goalkeeper Aaron Lennox absolutely no chance.

In the day’s other game, Hearts were held 2-2 by St Johnstone at Tynecastle, with all four goals coming in the first 20 minutes.

The Jambos, who will join Aberdeen in the Europa League next season, were 2-0 down inside 12 minutes as Liam Craig and Graham Cummins put the visitors in front.

But they were back on terms after 20 minutes as Arnaud Djoum headed their first before Joe Shaughnessy diverted a Prince Buaben cross into his own goal.

Scottish Premiership
Aberdeen vs Ross County - 0-4
Celtic vs Motherwell - 7-0
Hearts vs St Johnstone - 2-2

Scottish Championship
Qualification (second leg)
Ayr vs Stranraer - 0-0 (Agg: 1-1; Ayr win 3-1 on pens)