First-half goals from Mikey Moore and the home side’s Yang meant the score was 1-1 at the break but a quick-fire double from Daizen Maeda before the hour mark put Celtic in a commanding position and the Light Blues were unable to recover.
Danny Röhl made three changes to his side for the derby. Following Monday’s encounter with Hearts, the Rangers head coach recalled Tuur Rommens, Connor Barron and Oliver Antman to the starting XI.
Dujon Sterling, Nico Raskin – who was not in today’s 20-man squad due to injury - and Andreas Skov Olsen dropped out after featuring from the outset at Tynecastle six days ago.
It was midfielder Barron who got the match underway from the kick-off with the atmosphere in the stadium red-hot as expected.
After just two minutes of a play a powerful 25-yard drive from Arne Engels was straight at Jack Butland but such was the swerve and dip on the ball that the goalkeeper could only palm away before the ball was cleared to safety.
At the other end of the pitch, 18-year-old Moore burst forward with great pace and, with Celtic defenders struggling to get back, he fed a pass to Youssef Chermiti but the striker’s low, angled shot went inches wide of Viljami Sinisalo’s far post.
The opening goal arrived on nine minutes and it was the lively Moore who got it for the visitors.
Chermiti did brilliantly to wriggle into a shooting position but his toe-poke effort was blocked by a defender. The ball, however, fell perfectly for Moore who calmly fired it into the bottom-left corner of the empty net to stun the home support.
As ever, the Old Firm fixture was producing relentless action and drama and with 17 minutes on the clock Celtic could have been back on level terms.
Yang did well to play in Maeda who used his strength to shrug off Emmanuel Fernandez. The Japanese forward only had Butland to beat but he curled the ball well wide of Butland’s far post with a wasteful finish.
On 23 minutes the score was 1-1. Luke McCowan’s reverse pass found Engels in the box and his cut-back cross from the right was perfect for Yang who slotted a first-time shot beyond the helpless Butland.
After Celtic’s equaliser, both sides attempted to get their noses back in front but clear-cut chances were few and far between.
The first half ended with Nasser Djiga heading wide from a deep Tavernier free-kick which meant the players went up the Parkhead tunnel at the break with so much still to play for in the second forty-five.
It was Celtic, though, who flew out of the traps when the game restarted, with Maeda coming to the fore to leave Rangers with a mountain to climb.
On 53 and 57 minutes the industrious forward produced two finishes – the first a flick from a Kieran Tierney cross and the second an overhead kick – which effectively killed Rangers’ hopes of taking any points from the fixture.
Substitute Bojan Miovski did hit the crossbar with a header in injury time but it was too little, too late for the Gers on a disappointing afternoon.
CELTIC: Sinisalo, Johnston (Ralston 80), Scales, Trusty, Nygren (Hatate 75), Yang (Iheanacho 80), McCowan (Tounekti 45), Engels, Maeda, McGregor, Tierney (Saracchi 83)
SUBS NOT USED: Doohan, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Murray, Forrest
GOALS: Yang 23, Maeda 53, 57
BOOKINGS: Johnston, Trusty, Tierney, Scales, Maeda, Hatate
RANGERS: Butland, Tavernier (Sterling 59), Djiga, Fernandez, Rommens, Chukwuani (Miovski 75), Barron, Diomande (Aasgaard 59), Moore, Antman (Gassama 59), Chermiti
SUBS NOT USED: Kelly, Aarons, Meghoma, Bajrami, Skov Olsen
GOALS: Moore 9
BOOKINGS: Chermiti, Rommens
REF: Nick Walsh