Jota was back on target as Celtic moved a dozen points clear in the cinch Premiership.
The Portuguese bagged his eighth goal of the season and his first in nine games since netting against Real Madrid before the World Cup break over two months ago. Kyogo Furuhashi put a claim on the second as the champions extended their advantage at the summit. Kilmarnock were unable to stem the tide. Derek McInnes’ side managed to stay in the game until the stroke of half-time. But Jota’s goal just before the turnaround was a hammer blow and the second left them staring at defeat just seven days before the teams meet again in the semi-finals of the Viaplay Cup at Hampden Park.
This, though, was all about both ends of the league table and the end result, given the power of Celtic’s remarkable home form, was predictable. Ange Postecoglou’s men are still 100 percent at home in the league as, despite initially struggling to engineer openings due to Killie staying tight, they pounded and pushed the Ayrshire side into submission. Indeed, by the end, the winning margin could easily have been bigger
Cameron Carter Vickers was unable to reach an Aaron Mooy cross at a corner routine and Jota had a strike deflected into the gloves of Sam Walker, but that was it for the hosts in the first half hour. New signing Kyle Vassell started for Killie up front and did plenty of work. From the second phase of a free-kick, defender Chris Stokes landed a mishit cross onto the top of the net and Ash Taylor did the same with a looping header.
Kyogo did have the ball in the net from a Jota centre, but the Portuguese was flagged offside. However, on the stroke of half-time, Postecoglou’s men got the breakthrough when Alexandro Bernabei’s incisive pass set Daizen Maeda away down the left.
The attacker’s cutback was there for Kyogo or Jota to finish and the latter did the honours by nipping ahead of Walker to knock home. Jota launched out from the restart to crash another strike against the legs of the Killie keeper as the hosts looked for a quick second.
Kyogo helped to find it within seven minutes of the restart which saw Mooy release Reo Hatate down the right flank. The midfielder drilled a centre into the box and his countryman claimed a touch with the ball also appearing to possibly hit Ash Taylor before nestling in the net.
Man of the Match Hatate was denied a brilliant goal by an equally-excellent low save from his 20-yard strike and sub Liel Abada curled just wide. Walker produced another spectacular stop from Giorgos Giakoumakis header after the hitman had replaced Kyogo in attack.
The Greek also dipped a long-range shot against the crossbar as Celtic hunted for more goals. Sub James Forrest was next to rattle the frame when he hit a post and Matt O’Riley also failed to poke home in a scramble when denied by Walker, but Celtic already had maximum points in safe keeping. Here's three things we learned.
JOTA LOT TO ADD TO CELTIC
The Portuguese started the season on fire with a blistering beginning and some wonderful goals to put on his CV. However, since the return from the World Cup break, the winger had not been at his sensational best. His part in the equaliser scored by Kyogo against Rangers at Ibrox could have been a catalyst and this opening goal was vital to the side just before half-time. Getting Jota back to his magical peak will make Celtic even better in the coming weeks.
KYLE BACK ALREADY
As Kyle Lafferty served the last match of his 10-game suspension, Killie boss McInnes was able to get his other Northern Ireland international of the same name onto the park in the shape of Vassell. The 29-year-old looked strong and powerful with good running ability on debut having previously been at San Diego. With Scott Robinson also back from long-term injury, Killie had lots more options in their attacking positions, even if they had to feed on scraps here.
CELTIC BOYS HAD TO BE FULL OF IT
Greg Taylor, Anthony Ralston and Josip Juranivic have all played huge parts in the success of Postecoglou’s side over the past season and a half and any replacements would find it hard to step into the full-back breach. Bernabei and Johnston had the jobs against Killie and both got into the flow of the roles as the game wore on. The Argentine’s better working of the position in the second half allowed Hatate to flourish and become the game’s most-influential and impressive player. Both of the full-backs played their part.
