Is it at all surprising that on the same weekend that Kris Boyd talked of a deep schism within the Celtic dressing room (h/t Daily Record), Brendan Rodgers’ men delivered a performance of the highest order? In fact, it was perhaps a performance that they’ve been threatening to unleash since August but never found the form to do so until now.
St. Johnstone simply had no answer for the pace, intelligence and understanding of the away side’s attack. Celtic’s first-half performance was by far their best of the season so far, with James Forrest unstoppable on the right-wing.
One might have been deemed a fool to suggest that the player could score four goals before half-time but Forrest played as a man possessed; a man hurt from his side’s poor showing against Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League.
His first goal was fortuitous, capitalising on Zander Clark’s decent save to score an open goal but his next three were pure skill. He linked with playmaker Tom Rogic for the second and the third, with the Australian playing his partner through the St. Johnstone defence.
After that, Forrest gathered the ball beyond the halfway line and ran determinedly at the opposition defence for his fourth, driving infield and planting a simple left-footed shot into the corner of the net. Each time he celebrated by grabbing the Celtic crest upon his jersey in front of his adoring supporters, he looked like a vital player of this team.
After such a torrid half, manager Tommy Wright was left fuming since Danny Swanson saw red only three minutes into the second-half, swiping down the electrifying Forrest in a defying act against a player he couldn’t cope with.
The Hoops could have scored more goals against a depleted home side but Rodgers’ men somewhat relaxed proceedings and settled the game down. Their sixth and final goal didn’t arrive until the 84th minute, coming after some intricate link-up play between Mikael Lustig and Callum McGregor, leading to the latter slotting into an empty net to cap a fine result.
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Harder games will await Celtic after the international break, with Neil Lennon’s high-flying Hibernian up next. As far as Wright is concerned, he still has his team above the relegation zone but his players seem to be lacking in confidence and this break should do St. Johnstone well to regroup and plan for the tough season ahead.
