Celtic somewhat begrudgingly travelled up to Perth for a weird 5:45pm kick-off against St Johnstone, hoping to give us a win, three points, and an injury-free match before Dortmund…

What they gave us was a masterclass in technique, energy, and finishing. This was up there with anything we’ve seen this season, and had the fans drooling.

The school of thought ran with the idea that, with Celtic travelling to an ECL match in Germany which will be played on Tuesday night, the league game could have been brought forward to Friday night to accommodate the coefficient.

The telly won, and sanity refused to prevail, meaning a very short turnaround between playing away up in Perth, and playing away in front of the Yellow Wall in the Rhineland.

It worked for us in Perth despite temporarily losing our backline talisman, Cameron Carter-Vickers. Auston Trusty was given his second run-out in Hoops to find out if his inauspicious debut was indeed a hoax.

This also worked in Perth, as our Yankee Doodle had a dandy time against, well, a workmanlike Saints frontline. I think they approached the Celtic penalty box three or four times with serious intent, at home.

Towards the end, Kasper Schmeichel actually made a save, and a top one at that. For the rest of the proceedings, Celtic ran riot, although it took 35 minutes to conjure a goal which Alan Muir in the VAR/Specsavers room deemed undebatable.

Why do all the enemies of Celtic in Scottish football officialdom get the final say on our most important decisions? A Saints defender ran to prevent Trusty meeting a ball into the box. They collided – nothing more – and Trusty was the stronger.

The Perthman went to ground quicker than J Lo at a P.Diddy public enquiry, and as a result, Daizen Maeda’s superb volley was deemed moot. Disgracefully.

However, we’ve seen this movie before, and Celtic went for the jugular thereafter, and the good guys won in the end. When Kyogo raced onto a deft Kuhn header, the ‘keeper had no chance as the Japanese flashed the ball into the net with some style.

It was inevitable that more would follow, and, sure as a blue-nose is in the VAR room, we got another. Kuhn and Kyogo mesmerised the rear guard before Paolo Bernardo bent home a lovely execution from the edge of the box, merely two minutes from time.

It became a case of, ‘how many?’ and, two minutes later, and on the stroke of the whistle, a delicious delivery from Greg Taylor on the left was met by the forehead of the high-flying Kyogo, and his header was sublime as it flew into the far corner.

With the score 3-0 at half-time, both Celtic ends went up in appreciation of the football fare they were being served up. It was ridiculously good at times. If the St Johnstone stands had gone up, no one would have noticed as there were more empty seats than bums on them, a poor reflection of the state of the Scottish game at times.

The quality on offer during the second half took Brendan Rodgers’ second tenure at Parkhead onto another level. I’d say that, despite the poor quality of the opposition, this is some of the best football I’ve ever seen from any Celtic team, past or present.

This was emphasised by a goal of sheer quality from Callum McGregor as he rifled home yet another wonder-strike from distance after a short Engels/Kuhn- worked corner. Our metronome is having one helluva season, and no team is safe.

Paulo Bernardo is more than fighting for his place in the team, and his inch-perfect cross for Daizen Maeda was met with headed intent. Daizen didn’t hesitate in the box, and the ball flashed into the roof of the net to make it five.

The Celtic fans were rejoicing in the stands, and their joy went into the stratosphere when we witnessed a goal of sheer genius.

Substitute, Luke McCowan was desperate to be involved and determined to make his mark once again. The ex-Dundonian gathered a loose ball outside the box and looked to play it wide. Instead, the blonde-bombshell chipped imperiously into his fellow substitute, the foraging full-back, Alex Valle.

The Barcelona loanee cooly back-heeled the ball to yet another sub, Adam Idah, and the Irishman subtly slotted past Sinclair to send the green stands of McDiarmid Park wild.

This was a goal of rare quality, and further emphasised the riches Brendan Rodgers has at his disposal. McCowan was intent on scoring in front of the fans again, but his low strike was touched onto the post by the ‘keeper. How unlucky was that?

Yes, Dortmund will be an entirely different prospect, but on this form, this squad should fear no one.
Celtic are getting better and better, and, Europe aside, this promises to be a season of seasons, and to hear Brendan’s song being belted out by the whole green contingent made me smile. The man is taking us to levels we could only dream of, and long may it continue.

Hail Hail!

Eddie Murray

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