Manager: Reo's superb strike set us on the way to win over St Mirren

Celtic F.C.

·13 April 2024

Manager: Reo's superb strike set us on the way to win over St Mirren

Celtic extended their lead at the top of the Premiership to four points with a 3-0 home win over St Mirren today (Saturday).

Second-half goals from Reo Hatate, Kyogo and Adam Idah ensured a good win for Brendan Rodgers’ side, who battled the elements as well as a tough St Mirren side in order to come out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.

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Speaking after the game, the Celtic manager said: “It was a very good win. These games are always about the first goal and we got it at the beginning of the second-half, and then everything started to flow from there, and we then looked very good in the second-half.

“To be fair, it was more than the wind. We didn’t play quick enough and move the ball and were accurate enough with our passing.

'The passing was too slow and we didn’t quite connect the game, so we just talked at half-time around making closer connections so that we could play quicker.'

“It was difficult for both sets of players but I thought St Mirren defended well.

"We didn’t cause them enough problems in the first-half just by the speed of everything – we lost the ball too quickly in the final third.

“But one we corrected that in the second-half, I thought the players were excellent in the second-half.

"There was a really good tempo in the game, scored some very good goals and nearly had some others.”

The opening goal of the game came on 51 minutes and it was a stunning strike from Reo Hatate, the midfielder taking a ball from Alistair Johnston and firing in an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.

The Canadian also provided the assist for the second goal, delivering a cross for Kyogo to head home.And Adam Idah added Celtic’s third with five minutes remaining.

“It was a great touch and finish from Reo,” said the manager.

'It’s great to see him back. It got a little bit more game-time today, so that was pleasing.'

“The second goal, when you firstly look at the cross, it was a brilliant cross by Ali and the movement of Kyogo is what his game’s all about – how he creates the space for himself. His first movement takes the defender one way, and then he’s there to finish.

“And once we got to 2-0, the flow of the game and the tempo of the game was good, and we started to push on much better.

Big Adam is a real weapon for us, whether he starts for us or comes off the bench – just his physicality. He got another goal so, again, he’s contributing. And I thought all the subs came in and did that.”