Brendan Rodgers labelled the 5-2 Celtic victory over St Mirren as one of his favourites of the season so far.
The Hoops were made to work for their three Paisley points but a flurry of second-half goals sealed the win to go 16 points clear of Rangers at the top of the Premiership.
Rangers tripped up again as they lost to Motherwell at Ibrox earlier in the day and it gave Celtic the chance to extend their already unassailable lead.
St Mirren impressed throughout, particularly in the first-half, as the strike partnership of Toyosi Olusanya and Mikael Mandron caused Celtic’s backline physical problems.
But the Bhoys went into the interval 2-1 ahead thanks to goals from Jeffrey Schlupp – his first for the club – and Arne Engels who scored from the penalty spot.
St Mirren levelled again through Killian Phillips but Yang Hyun-jun’s double and an excellent Daizen Maeda finish got the Hoops over the line in the end.
- READ MORE: Celtic ace applauded for ‘reigniting Hoops career’ after another starring impact vs St Mirren
St Mirren 2-5 Celtic one of Rodgers’ favourites this season
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers spoke to Sky Sports post-match and immediately told reporter Luke Shanley that the win was one of his favourites of the campaign.
He explained why by saying: “I think it’s one of my favourite wins of the season, just on the back of so many games.
“Third game of the week coming here, difficult pitch against a team that are so well organised and make it really difficult for you, they bring a physicality to the game.
“So to come here and score five goals and make the impact that we did was so pleasing.”
What Celtic lacked against St Mirren
Liam Scales had to replace Auston Trusty after just 25 minutes of action due to the American suffering a bloody head injury.
The Irishman didn’t cover himself in too much glory, however, and struggled to deal with the pace and physicality of Olusanya.
Scales had a tough evening and Rodgers admitted that overall, Celtic are missing one particular trait in their defending of late.
He said: “I just said to the guys there afterwards that we are missing a little bit of freshness in our defending naturally with all the games we’re playing and what we’re putting into the games.
“So I just think we’re conceding a few more chances than what we’ve normally done right through the season. But this now gives us a chance to recover that and give us that freshness back in our pressing and defending.”
Rodgers praises Celtic subs
Rodgers’ substitutes changed the complexion of the second-half for Celtic as he brought on Yang, Luke McCowan and Jota.
The former two were the most impactful with the South Korean star notching two goals and an assist, while McCowan was energetic and industrious in attacking areas.
Rodgers hailed all three and thinks utilising the depth of his squad has been one of Celtic’s hallmarks this season.
The Celtic boss continued: “Yang was amazing when he came into the game. The goals he scored, he had one disallowed which would have been a great goal for us.
“His ball for Daizen’s goal, the vision to see that. Luke coming into the game as well gave us a real freshness, Jota too. They were very, very important for us. That’s what we’ve been about all season.”
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