Celtic stretched their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a superb performance against St Johnstone at Parkhead.
Goals from Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda and a double from Kyogo Furuhashi was enough to cap off a dominant display as Celtic destroyed St Johnstone in the final game of 2024.
Brendan Rodgers named a much-changed Celtic side where he decided to rest Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor and Nicolas Kuhn as the Hoops boss used his squad ahead of the big New Year Glasgow Derby.
The changes never made a difference on the park as Celtic strolled to a 4-0 win so with that in mind, here are 67 Hail Hail’s player ratings as Rodgers recorded his 16th league win of the season.
Celtic player ratings as Kyogo, Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels destroy St Johnstone
Kasper Schmeichel – 6
The big Danish goalkeeper didn’t have much to do as he kept his 15th clean sheet of the Scottish Premiership season. Showed some lovely counterattack passing.
Alistair Johnston – 6
A good run out for Johnston as he combined well with Nicolas Kuhn on the right flank. Made some great early attacking runs and created two chances for Celtic.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – 7
The big American was solid as he kept the St Johnstone counter-attack at bay. Was unlucky not to score in the first half after floating a shot just over the bar. Put in a captain’s shift.
Liam Scales – 7
The Irishman kept his place in the team after a solid display in the 4-0 Motherwell win. Passing was crisp and offered support to the Celtic attack.
Alex Valle – 7
The young Spanish fullback did well linking up with Yang on the left. Opened up the St Johnstone defence on five different occasions and one shot on target. Wasn’t troubled defensively.
Reo Hatate – 8
The Japanese midfielder looked lively in the first half with some piercing runs through the midfield. Created an assist for Nicolas Kuhn’s opener and created many problems for St Johnstone in the heart of the midfield.
Paulo Bernardo – 9
The Portuguese midfielder got the nod to start in the absence of Celtic captain, Callum McGregor. Had two shots on goal and created an assist for Kyogo’s goal after a defence-splitting run forced a save from St Johnstone’s keeper Joshua Rae for the Japanese striker to nod home. Rightly named the man of the match.
Arne Engels – 9
The young Belgian was in sparkling form and was excellent in the first half. Was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet and had five shots on goal. Created an assist for Kyogo’s second goal. This will be a confidence-boosting performance for the Celtic midfielder ahead of the Rangers game midweek.
Nicolas Kuhn – 9
The German winger was devastating with some mazy runs in the first half were he was a menace to Simo Valikari’s men. Opened the scoring in the 30th minute and was unlucky not to add more to his seven league goals this season.
Hyunjun Yang – 6
Not one of South Korean’s best performances and does flatter to deceive. Never made a cross the whole game but did create two chances. Needs to do more when given a chance and is unlikely to feature against Rangers in the starting lineup.
Kyogo Furuhashi – 9
The Japanese striker was a pest for the 67 minutes he was on the park. Never gave the St Johnstone defence a minutes peace as he netted a double in the 4-0 win. Had five shots on goal and probably should have had a hattrick.
Callum McGregor (sub) – 6
Brought on with about 25-mintes minutes to go. Almost scored shortly after coming on and had two shots on goal. Strolled it.
Adam Idah (sub) – 6
Was given just under half an hour after replacing Kyogo on the 67th minute. Had one shot on goal but was largely not involved in the game.
Daizen Maeda (sub) – 8
What a cameo from the Japanese winger. Scored five minutes after replacing Nicolas Kuhn and was relentless in the press. Also created a chance and had two shots on goal.
Luke McCowan (sub) – 7
Was given just over 20 minutes and performed well. Had two shots on goal and was solid in the tackle. Another good cameo performance from the former Dundee captain.
Anthony Ralston – 6
Was given 20 minutes to make an impact but never really had much to do after replacing Alistair Johnston.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
