Celtic restored their nine-point lead at the top of the table as they produced one of the high-scoring football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Celtic took the lead after 13 minutes thanks to an own goal by Andrew Considine, and the visitors’ advantage was extended by Kyogo Furuhashi’s 22nd goal of the year (22). Drey Wright’s excellent long-range goal cut the deficit in half (25) but Aaron Mooy’s outstanding goal restored the Celtic’s two-goal lead before halftime (38). Despite having a strong start to the game, St. Johnstone struggled to put Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart to the test. To make matters worse, Considine, who was making his 600th club appearance, was sent in stoppage time for hauling down replacement Hyeon-Gyu Oh on the edge of the box. When Matt O’Riley’s pass was sent in from the next free kick (90+3), fellow replacement David Turnbull made it 4-1 for Celtic, ensuring an easy victory for Ange Postecoglou’s team.
After Rangers’ 2-1 victory against Ross County on Saturday, it was the ideal response. Celtic have now gone unbeaten in 18 Scottish Premiership games and have increased their lead over their competitors by nine points. In terms of St Johnstone, the loss drops Callum Davidson’s team to eighth place in the standings, seven points above the drop zone.
The home team’s starting lineup saw the addition of James Brown, Tony Gallacher, Graham Carey, and Connor McLennan. Postecoglou just made one change, with Mooy switching places with O’Riley in midfield for the game’s midday kickoff. Furuhashi raced on to a pass from Mooy, and from the bye-line, his attempted ball towards fellow Japanese teammates Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate was deflected into his own net from close range by the defenseless Considine. This gave the Hoops control and the lead.
The Perth team suffered an early confidence blow when Furuhashi’s high shot past home goalkeeper Remi Matthews in the 22nd minute after Portuguese winger Jota’s cross followed a long pass from the great Mooy. Wright gave the hosts some optimism by driving past Hoops goalkeeper Hart from 20 yards in what seemed to be another romp for the champions. Jota’s superb chip over the St. Johnstone defenders allowed Mooy to gently lob Matthews from 16 yards away, demonstrating how the visitors kept their composure.
Five minutes later, in a rare St Johnstone attempt, McLennan was inches from the goal but was unable to connect with a Carey cross as Celtic continued to press and probe. In the 69th minute, Liel Abada and O’Riley took the place of Hatate and Maeda, and Saints midfielder David Wotherspoon replaced Wright. In the 75th minute, Abada lofted a cross from Jota over the crossbar before Zak Rudden was substituted on to make his St. Johnstone debut. After a thorough VAR offside investigation, Turnbull’s goal was confirmed after Considine was dismissed for a foul on Oh just outside the area. Turnbull received a short O’Riley pass and shot past Matthews.
“I’m very happy because the circumstances—particularly the pitch—weren’t favorable. We had to get through that and stay focused on our football, which I believe we accomplished. We occasionally had to defend due to the nature of the game, which I thought we did pretty well, which was encouraging to watch, and we scored four quality goals,” Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou said. “Even though it was tougher for us to move the ball swiftly as the game went on because the field was becoming more and more cut up, I still thought some of our play was fantastic. Those early goals were crucial because they provided us a chance to participate in the game. We regret having to concede the one we did, but we handled it correctly.”
“It’s strange because usually when you play against Celtic, your goalie is constantly making saves, but they had four shots on target, which shows how proficient they were,” he added. “Actually, I was fairly happy with the first half. Although we came back from a 2-0 behind with courage, the final goal just before halftime to make it 3-1 was disheartening.”
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