Celtic produced a level of control in their performance that hasn’t always been there in recent weeks to comfortably see off St Mirren in the Scottish Cup last weekend.
Luis Palma’s smart cut-back was finished well by Kyogo Furuhashi at the edge of the area to give the visitors a deserved lead on 15 minutes.
The Honduran was also involved in the Hoops’ second goal, putting in a cross from the left that was turned home by Daizen Maeda following Matt O’Riley’s initial effort that rebounded off the woodwork.
Defensively, Celtic stood up to the task despite the Buddies’ best efforts to trouble Brendan Rodgers’ backline, recording a fifth clean sheet in their last nine matches.
In terms of momentum, the Bhoys are now on a run of eight wins from said nine encounters, providing some stability as Rodgers looks to bring a domestic double back to Parkhead.
Recovery will be next on the agenda for the Scottish Premiership holders as they take advantage of a few days on the training field to prepare for the visit of Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Scotland international Greg Taylor will be available for selection against his former club after recuperating from a calf strain sustained last month.
Pat Bonner praises Celtic winger Luis Palma’s performance
Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner has had his say on proceedings at the weekend and signalled his appreciation for Palma’s performance in particular, picking up on subtle changes to his game.
The 63-year-old stated [Scottish Football Podcast]: “I thought the difference today was Palma, and I did talk about him in the last couple of weeks.
“Today, it looked as if they’d studied what he’s been doing in games, and you’ve got to give credit to the player too, that he almost changed his game a little bit.
“He got to the byline, he got on that left foot and put some dangerous crosses in. He put the cross into the back post for O’Riley who hit the crossbar and it came back to Maeda.”
Luis Palma is a huge asset for Celtic
In the eyes of some, Palma is a figure of frustration. However, he is statistically Celtic’s best creator on league duty, evidenced by the fact he has laid on 12 big chances this term [Fotmob].
Some of the criticism levelled at the Honduras international is due to the fact he doesn’t get to the line often enough. Nevertheless, he is a major asset for the Bhoys, and his end product has yielded eight goals and ten assists from 32 appearances in green and white [Transfermarkt].
Of course, the 24-year-old does have plenty of room for improvement in his game, though raw numbers don’t lie. Without his contribution, it is hard to imagine where Rodgers’ men would be.
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