Celtic returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership today with a dominant win against St Johnstone at Celtic Park. The home side were full of energy throughout in what was a really good performance, one that puts the pressure back on theRangers when they play Dundee tomorrow afternoon.
Celtic came out of the traps quickly and you could tell early on they were in the mood today but a combination of being wasteful in front of goal and Craig Levein’s men playing with ultra defensive tactics meant we didn’t get our first goal until the 40th minute through Kyogo.
We looked comfortable from that moment onwards and when Nicolas Kühn scored shortly after half time the three points looked guaranteed. Substitute James Forrest then scored a quality third goal to seal the points before we conceded a soft consolation goal that enraged Joe Hart in the Celtic goals.
The following 3 points are the main things I took away from the game today:
1. Kyogo is almost back to his best
In a season where our star striker has failed to hit the heights of the past two campaigns it looks like Kyogo is returning to form once again. He looked incredibly sharp today, making some fantastic runs and if it wasn’t for the cross bar and the linesman he could easily have got a hat-trick this afternoon. He also managed to register an assist as he set up Nicolas Kühn for Celtic’s second goal of the day.
It was important that Celtic got their talisman back to his best and it looks as if the Japanese international will be firing on all cylinders heading into the most important part of the season, and just in time to inflict yet more pain on our city rivals.
It looks like Rodgers has given up on wanting Kyogo to drop deep to get involved in the build up play, which is the correct decision. Kyogo does his best work getting in behind defences and it was great to see him thrive in that role yet again today. There is absolutely no doubt that we are a better team with Kyogo in it.
2. Kühn is improving week by week
Celtic v St. Johnstone – cinch Premiership – Celtic Park Celtic s Nicolas Kuhn celebrates scoring their sides second goal during the cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park, Saturday March 16, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan
Nicolas Kühn didn’t have the best of starts to his Celtic career, failing to impress in his first few performances after joining the club from Rapid Vienna in the January transfer window.
Plenty of Celtic fans, including myself, were wondering whether the German was an upgrade on the wingers already at the club but he’s starting to prove the doubters wrong with his ever improving performances. He really impressed last week and showed his worth yet again today, claiming a goal and an assist during his hour on the pitch.
He certainly has the attributes to be an important member of this Celtic team, he’s got pace, is good on the ball and is now starting to add both goals and assists to his repertoire. With Yang’s two game ban now complete it’s going to be interesting to see who Brendan Rodgers goes with on the right wing, with the Korean also impressing recently.
James Forrest celebrates after he scores his team’s third goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Johnstone at Celtic Park on March 16, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
It’s good to have competition for places and I must say I was so happy to see James Forrest come on and score today. His manager stated recently that Jamesy is still technically the best winger at the club who unfortunately is finding age catching up with him but will still have an important role to play this season. I agree wholeheartedly.
3. It’s vital Carter-Vickers stays injury free
Cameron Carter-Vickers returned to the starting line up today probably sooner than most of us expected and it was great to have the American international back. I think Carter-Vickers is the most important player in this Celtic squad, our back line seems to absolutely fall apart when he’s out of the team.
I have to say I felt tense watching that today due to a fear we had rushed him back and he would pull up with an injury again. Thankfully he got through the game unscathed but it was obvious when he came off how important a player he is. We were absolutely coasting it at the back when he was on the park but then conceded a weak goal in his absence.
I found the decision to replace him with Odin Holm instead of Gustaf Lagerbiekle absolutely mind boggling. Tomoki Iwata, who had a great game in the defensive midfield role, went into defence beside Stephen Welsh and I have to say he was at fault for the goal, being out powered in the air.
We have already tried Iwata in defence and it didn’t work, it was a bad decision to put him in there whether we were 3-0 up or not. Goal difference could be crucial come the end of this season so giving away silly goals shouldn’t be happening. That one is on Brendan Rodgers.
As I said earlier though our defence seems to struggle massively without Carter-Vickers there, so it’s imperative we do everything possible to keep him injury free over these next two months. He’s not been named in the USA squad over the international break so hopefully that will give him time to rest and fully recover from previous niggles and we have him fit and ready to go as we enter the business end of the season.
Conall McGinty
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