Celtic dominance, James Forrest verdict, three things we learned as Celtic thump Kilmarnock

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Celtic begin the defence of their Scottish Premiership title with a dominant display against Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock this afternoon at Parkhead.

Goals from Reo Hatate, Liam Scales, Nicolas Kuhn and second-half substitute, Anthony Ralston gave the Hoops a resounding 4-0 win as Brendan Rodgers opened up a two-point gap between Celtic and Rangers after match day one.

Celtic’s display was dominant with over 80% of the possession and over 25 shots on goal as they kept Killie penned in for much of the match. [BBC]

It was a performance that was sure to delight Rodgers as his team sent the fans home happy so here are three things we learned during Celtic’s dominant win over Kilmarnock.

Celtic’s dominance overpowered Kilmarnock

As we mentioned earlier, Celtic were absolutely dominant as they overpowered the Ayrshire side from the first whistle.

The passing was crisp, the press was relentless and the whole team played as a complete unit. For the first fixture back of the new season, it seems that what Alistair Johnston was hinting at earlier today came to fruition.

This Celtic team certainly did ‘stomp’ over Kilmarnock as the Bhoys never gave Kilmarnock a minute and from this game alone, it certainly seems that Rodgers is sending his team out to finish teams off with ruthless intent.

In truth, the scoreline should have been much more after Kyogo had a goal chopped off for offside, Scales had an effort cleared off the like and Kuhn hit the bar.

It was an excellent performance from the Bhoys and it made Flag Day a bit more special for the fans.

James Forrest still has much to offer Celtic

With the injury to Daizen Maeda, Rodgers called on James Forrest to fill in on the left-hand side and he didn’t let the Celtic manager down.

The veteran winger looked dangerous, willing to take a man on and he even helped out defensively tracking back and pressing.

Now a spritely 33-year-old, Forrest picked up where he left off last season as he drove the Celtic attack on the left flank and the Scotland winger is sure to contribute more to the title defence this season.

Matt O’Riley’s Celtic focus despite transfer chatter

Matt O’Riley has been the subject of much transfer talk this summer but just as he did in the US Tour, the classy midfielder put in another performance of the highest order.

The Denmark midfielder was a real attacking threat as he probed the Kilmarnock with defence-splitting passes and attacking runs through the middle.

His delivery from dead balls and corners today was extremely dangerous as he recorded another assist for Liam Scales’ headed goal for Celtic’s second of the game.

O’Riley once admitted that the interest from Atletico Madrid in January affected his form last season. Well it looks like all the transfer chatter this summer has not troubled the Dane as he looked very focused and dangerous in the win over Kilmarnock.