Celtic waltzed to an impressive 4-0 win in their latest Premiership tussle against St Mirren at Parkhead.
The Buddies came into the game as the only domestic side to have beat Ange Postecoglou champions this season, and they were denied an opener when Curtis Main's goal was ruled offside. Up the other end did Celtic go and Liel Abada turned the ball in from close range as the home side continued to ride a wave of aerial threats from Stephen Robinson's side. But the clinical edge was always with the home outfit and they doubled their lead before the first half finished with a sumptuous Kyogo Furuhashi lob finishing off a brilliant Reo Hatate pass.
A VAR check handed him his second of the night after initially being deemed offside from a Jota cross, but replays showed he was behind the ball when the Portuguese star fizzed a tantalising tease into the area. It was all she wrote from there on as Postecoglou began to start making changes with a commanding 20th win from 22 top flight games beckoning ahead of this Saturday's Scottish Cup fourth round tie against Morton. James Forrest thought he had his side's fourth with virtually his first touch but the ref's new tech was not as kind this time around and Kyogo was flagged off in the build-up, but David Turnbull made sure they got another with an outstanding 25-yard smash. Here's five talking points from the game in Glasgow's east-end.
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Happiness indeed
Yuki roughly translates to happy in Japanese and that's how the new Celtic defender will have left fans and his new peers feeling after his maiden box in Hoops. It also comes out as snow in some contexts which is a nice precursor for the freezing temperatures he endured in his Parkhead opener. Not that it affected him though, as Kobayashi turned in an exemplary debut. His range of passing is excellent and he was so close to getting a quick-fire debut goal before Abada eventually scored.
Carl Starfelt plunged him into a tough innings with slack play that allowed Jonah Ayunga through for a one-versus-one with him. But Kobayashi just stood his ground and danger passed quickly in what was a pretty impressive moment. If he keeps this up, the import from Vissel Kobe looks like another precious J-League capture. The brace getter in this one, Hatate and Daizen Maeda have all shone, with Yosuke Ideguchi the only one you'd consider a transfer miss. Kobayashi certainly has hit potential and a glance at Tomoki Iwata was also offered up by Postecoglou after the defensive-minded star's arrival from Yokohama F. Marinos, named among the subs.
Buddies bombardment
Robinson's side were well in this even after the first goal had gone in but the second seemed to puncture their chances. What they did literally throw at a Hoops backline that's never played with each other before is long throws into the box courtesy of Joe Shaughnessy, with Ayunga and Curtis Main proving handfuls whenever the ball went up in the air. That direct approach threatened to provide some joy, with throws midway into the Hoops half almost acting like corners, but once the home side sussed those out, it became a bit tougher for St Mirren to get chances.
Giakoumakis a goner?
Pre-match tension around Giorgos Giakoumakis and his future at Celtic was raised pre-match as the Greek striker was left out, amid rumours he's closing in on a move to Japan and Urawa Red Diamonds. Postecoglou has played this down as some soreness following Saturday's Viaplay Cup semi-final against Kilmarnock, but this hasn't stopped fans debating whether there was something more behind his absence.
Postecoglou will be taken at his word for now and did say that if it weren't for injury that his number seven would have been involved. But as January goes on, seeing will be believing for supporters of the 28-year-old. That said, despite the club seemingly being in the market for a replacement should he depart, Celtic's front line didn't look in too bad fettle with Kyogo, Abada and Jota all looking lively on the night.
In the moment
Last season, Kyogo played 33 times in an injury-hit term with 20 goals. He's five games off that total of games and two goals too, and you'd be silly to be against the diminutive forward smashing last season's tally in the very near future. He's been a man possessed in the league, scoring on eight of the last 11 matchdays. There have been criticisms of the 27-year-old earlier in the season but he's cast those aside with ease now and stands at around double of the next highest goalscorer at the club, Abada, in terms of domestic strikes.
A man in scintillating form that's hard to stop and he offers so much more than goals too in this menacing mood. He drops in and offers support to try and link play, alongside his deceptive dips between centre-backs that proved tough for St Mirren to deal with.
Demolition specialists
By January 18th last season, Celtic had scored three or more goals in a game on seven occasions. This season, they've done it in 11 games, which is exactly half of their matches. It's a pretty formidable stat, made more so by the fact they have scored a cool 69 goals in that time. Postecoglou's side have made a habit of sweeping teams aside and it's all but likely that if you catch them in full flow, then you best start preparing for the worst. 16 is last season's league total to beat and on current form it seems likely that they could smash through that barrier.
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