Celtic were far from at their best against St Mirren last weekend, yet they coasted to the Scottish Cup quarter finals, netting five goals in the process.
The 5-1 rout of the Buddies brought the Hoops’ goal tally to 102 for the season; a stat which must strike fear into the rest of Scottish football, particularly as Ange Postecoglou’s team appear capable of regularly scoring four and five times per game even when not hitting top gear.
Celtic dominated proceedings and got their goal after already hitting the woodwork. They continued to control the game without deploying their usual fast, frenetic style of play, until an opportunity arose to grab a second 15 minutes from time.
That second goal came from the penalty spot and saw St Mirren reduced to 10 men. At that stage the tie looked over, and many teams would have been happy to stroll over the line. Ange had other ideas. Instead, his team, buoyed by fresh legs that he introduced, went on a ruthless rampage to capitalise on their numerical advantage. Three more goals were lashed home, albeit with one conceded from the penalty spot at the other end.
It was much like the recent trip to Perth, where a good performing Celtic side still managed to rack up four goals, without being at their absolute imperious best.
If the Hoops really hit their stride and play at maximum pace again, we could be looking at another team being hit for nine. Indeed, the goalscoring rate and spread of goals across the team is simply incredible at the moment.
