Celtic 4-0 St Johnstone: Rodgers’ relentless side move to within touching distance of another title

Ultimately, 2024 was not a bad old year for Celtic. Two defeats in 50 games – one against 10-man Hearts, the other against Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund – could not take the shine off the three national trophies glittering in the Parkhead boardroom. On days like these you wonder when they will ever leave.

A time of year when the nostalgic favorites are wheeled out for a celebratory send-off, and the news that Motherwell lead Rangers by two goals revived an old chant of ‘ten-in-a-row’ among the Celtic support.

The news of a Fir Park fight by Philippe Clement’s team changed nothing. With a fourteen-point lead heading into the halfway point of the season, Celtic’s fourth consecutive Scottish league title – a thirteenth in fourteen seasons – is now within reach.

Although Clement’s team prevented the lead from expanding further with two goals in the second half, they still managed to lose ground.

Celtic’s 15th clean sheet in 18 league games was supplemented by four goals, taking their goal difference to plus 48.

By comparison, Rangers’ goal difference is just 18, effectively adding another point to the Parkhead tally. At this time of year it never rains, but it pours.

Top and bottom were just as one-sided as expected. Celtic rattled off 30 shots on target to St. Johnstone’s.

Nicolas Kuhn’s fourteenth goal of the season gave Kyogo Furuhashi a half-time lead in five minutes, with the scoring rounded off by a composed finish from substitute Daizen Maeda.

Captain Callum McGregor was given an hour’s rest and that made no difference to the final outcome.

Simo Valakari said his St Johnstone team couldn’t breathe for 90 minutes and the ruthless nature of this Celtic team offers little or no hope for Rangers.

While a win over their oldest rivals on Thursday could provide some breathing space for their Belgian manager, there is debate on both sides of Glasgow over whether that is a good or bad thing. At the end of a week in which Rangers scored four points in two games, Celtic and their supporters would be delighted if Clement stayed put.

St Johnstone’s last win in Glasgow’s east end was winless in their last 16 visits to Parkhead in all competitions and came in March 2015 thanks to a Danny Swanson goal. Celtic had won 26 of their last 30 meetings with Perth, their last defeat of any kind coming during Ronny Deila’s tenure in May 2016.

Throw in a run of one win in nine games and there was little doubt as to how this match would end. The only question left hanging was how many goals Celtic could score.

Goalkeeper Josh Rae prevented the home team from destroying the match before half time with a few spectacular stops. The first came from Arne Engels, in the starting line-up for the rested skipper McGregor. The second came minutes after he was powerless to stop Celtic making the breakthrough, inevitably through Kuhn’s left boot.

A far-reaching pass from Reo Hatate gave the top scorer the time and space to cut inside, torture right back Bozo Mikulic and drive the ball emphatically past Rae.

With half an hour of play, Celtic had achieved their goal. Few thought it would be their last.

Rae’s intervention prevented Kuhn from adding a quick second within minutes. Cutting inside again, a curling, dipping shot headed towards the postage stamp corner until the St Johnstone custodian leapt high and pushed around the post.

A goal for the better, Celtic’s home support started to enjoy themselves as news of a second goal for Motherwell against Rangers ended the festive season.

With the hosts dominant in every department, St Johnstone ended the first half without a touch of the ball in the Celtic 18-yard area.

A manager with barely a defensive bone in his body, Valakari’s response was brutal. Forwards Adama Sidibeh and Benjamin Kimpioka replaced Nicky Clark and Makenzie Kirk. Lewis Neilson replaced Aaron Essel. If the visitors went down, they would go down with guns blazing. It was an approach that almost came at a cost as Celtic forced the ball into the net for a second time, Alistair Johnston’s low cross converted into his own net by Saints defender Kyle Cameron from close range. An offside flag ended the briefest of celebrations before VAR confirmed it. No goal.

News of some sort of Rangers fight took some of the joy out of the atmosphere, but not much.

Celtic put it right by finally claiming their second goal seconds before an hour had passed. Paulo Bernardo smashed a broken Hatate ball over the top towards goal, Rae pulled off a fine save until Kyogo headed the loose ball into the net from close range to make it 2-0. He had scored against St Johnstone because he always does that. With his eye inwards, an eighth competition goal of his season was scored within five minutes.

It was a painfully easy battle for St Johnstone to lose. Engels received the ball on the right side and threw a cross into space for Kyogo to fire the ball into the net from close range to make it 3-0.

The match won, Brendan Rodgers turned his thoughts to Ibrox on Thursday. When Maeda, Adam Idah and McGregor took the field, St Johnstone had a more immediate priority. Getting through the last half hour without hiding.

It took Maeda six minutes to make an impact, with the substitute applying a composed finish to a delightful passed ball from Bernardo to make it 4-0.

The last 17 minutes were a test of endurance for the visiting team, but Kasper Schmeichel was able to save the day.

Home games against Hibernian and Dundee offer hope – if not a guarantee – of starting 2025 with a few less chastening days than this one as they try to avoid being set adrift at the foot of the table.

CELTIC (4-3-3): Schmeichel 5.5; Johnston 7 (Ralston 74), Carter-Vickers 6.5, Scales 6.5, Valle 6.5; ENGLISH 7.5 (McGregor 67), Bernardo 7, Hatate 6.5 (McCowan 74); Yang 6, Kuhn 7.5 (Maeda 67), Kyogo 7 (Idah 67).

Booked: No.

Manager: Brendan Rodgers7.

ST JOHNSTEIN (3-5-2): Rae6; Raymond 4, Mikulic 4, Sanders 5 (Holt 78); Cameron 4, Essel 3 (Neilson 45), Smith 4, Sprangler 4 (Carey 69), Franczak 4; Clark 3 (Sidibeh 45), Kirk 3 (Kimpioka 45).

Booked: Essel.

Manager: Simo Valakari 5.

Referee: Matthew MacDermid.

Presence: 58,645.