Sensational Celts see out 2024 in style with 4-0 win | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipSunday, December 29, 2024Celtic Park, GlasgowCELTIC…4(Kuhn 30, Kyogo 59 & 64, Maeda 73)ST JOHNSTONE…0

Celtic saw out 2024 in sensational style at Celtic Park this afternoon as they blew St Johnstone away with a 4-0 hammering thanks to goals from Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda and a double from Kyogo.

The champions started the match brightly, with Nicolas Kuhn and Alistair Johnston linking up well on the right wing and inspiring a few early chances for the Celts.

Just after the 10-minute mark, Kuhn took the ball on one of his typical mazy runs across the penalty area, dancing past St Johnstone defenders as he went. He was unfortunate not to find space to pull the trigger, but it was indicative of the joy that he was having against the visitors’ defence that he was able to waltz through their entire back-line.

On the opposite wing, the partnership of Alex Valle and Yang was also proving to be fruitful, and with just under 20 minutes played, Valle found Engels in space in the box.

The latter fired a shot towards the top corner, drawing an impressive one-handed save from Josh Rae.

The deadlock was broken just before the half-hour mark in brilliant style, as Reo Hatate burst through the middle of the park with the ball at his feet and sent an excellent pass out to Kuhn.

The winger cut inside towards the penalty area and smashed his shot beyond Rae and in to the back of the net to give the Celts a well-deserved lead.

Just a few moments later, Kuhn almost doubled the lead with a great attempt on goal from outside the box which looked to be curling in to the top corner, however the St Johnstone keeper produced another excellent save to keep it out.

Valle, who had looked lively since kick off, was the next to sting the palms of the visitors’ keeper when he thundered an effort on target from the edge of the area, however it was straight down the throat of the goalkeeper and he was able to push it away to safety.

The chances continued to come for Brendan Rodgers’ men, and the pressure on the St Johnstone defence was relentless in the closing stages of the half.

The visitors would have been relieved to hear the half-time whistle go and, in truth, they probably couldn’t believe that they were only trailing by one goal at half time given the dominance of the Celts in the first 45 minutes.

Five minutes into the second half, the Hoops had the ball in the net after some nice footwork from Kyogo gave Alistair Johnston the chance to fire the ball across the face of goal.

His attempted cross took a nick off of Kyle Cameron at the near post and crept in to the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

The Celts continued to turn the screw on St Johnstone and in the 57th minute, after some lovely build up play between Yang and Hatate, Kuhn flashed an effort across the face of goal which looked like it might nestle in the top corner.

However, just a minute later, the Celtic lead was doubled after Hatate clipped a ball in to the six-yard box where Paulo Bernardo touched an effort towards goal which was saved by Rae.

Kyogo was alert to the rebound, however, and the Japanese striker threw himself at the ball on the goal-line, making it 2-0 to Celtic with a diving header.

Things got even better for the Hoops in the 64th minute when Arne Engels whipped a pinpoint cross in to the penalty area from distance. Once again, Kyogo was lurking and he made no mistake as he tapped it beyond Rae to grab his second goal of the day, make it 3-0 and secure the three points for the champions.

With 73 minutes played, and after Brendan Rodgers had made a few changes, substitute Daizen Maeda made it 4-0 to Celtic as he coolly slotted home in to the bottom corner after a brilliant through ball from Bernardo.

Even with a four-goal lead, Brendan Rodgers’ men continued to push forward, hunting for even more goals as they moved the ball around with class and created a host of chances, forcing Rae into producing more saves to keep the scoreline down.

Today’s victory means that the Celts have their sixth consecutive clean sheet and see out 2024 having only suffered two defeats throughout the calendar year – a fact which surely puts 2024 into the conversation as one of the most impressive and memorable years in the history of the club.

Next up for Brendan Rodgers and the champions is a trip to Ibrox in four days’ time to take on Rangers.