Kyogo Furuhashi struck twice as Celtic continued their imperious start to the season with a 6-0 triumph over St Johnstone in Perth.
The Japan forward scored either side of Paulo Bernardo in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Callum McGregor added to the lead with his fourth long-range goal of the season, Daizen Maeda got on the scoresheet after having a first-half effort controversially disallowed and substitute Adam Idah rounded off the scoring.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have now won their first nine matches of the season, scoring 33 goals along the way, and have totalled 17 consecutive victories stretching back to last term.
With Auston Trusty starting in place of the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers in central defence, Celtic maintained their record of not conceding a goal in the William Hill Premiership this season following their sixth match.
Rodgers will now take his side to Germany to face Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in top form.
Celtic were regularly getting the ball to Furuhashi in behind a deep-lying Saints team from the start, and the Japan forward was twice denied by Ross Sinclair before the goalkeeper was beaten by Maeda’s first-time volley in the 26th minute.
However, referee Don Robertson was called to the monitor by video assistant Alan Muir with Graham Carey lying injured in the box. It looked like the Saints midfielder had been knocked down in an accidental collision with Trusty after moving in the way of the Celtic defender’s run as Arne Engels lined up to take a free-kick but Robertson disallowed the goal for a foul.
Saints lost captain Kyle Cameron to injury and replacement Aaron Essel took time to adjust. He was quickly beaten in the air by Trusty as the defender headed wide before Furuhashi finished impressively after the visitors got the break of the ball from the resulting goal kick and Nicolas Kuhn headed the striker clear.
The champions doubled their lead in the 43rd minute after a passing move involving nine players that started with Kasper Schmeichel’s goal-kick and ended with Bernardo sending a dipping strike from 22 yards into the corner of the net following Furuhashi’s lay-off.
Furuhashi then headed home from Greg Taylor’s precise cross following some one-touch football to make it 3-0, while the left-back came close in stoppage time before making way for Alex Valle during the interval.
Furuhashi fired just over 90 seconds into the second half but McGregor’s 25-yard drive caught out Sinclair in the 54th minute after the captain received the ball from Kuhn following a short corner.
Sinclair then denied Kuhn after a wonderful pass from Engels and Maeda missed a chance before getting his goal in the 72nd minute when he headed Bernardo’s cross high into the net.
Schmeichel had earned his clean sheet with an excellent second-half stop from Essel down at his near post.
Three substitutes combined for the sixth in the 83rd minute as Valle back-heeled Luke McCowan’s lofted pass onto the feet of Idah to slot home.
McCowan hit the inside of the post and forced a good save before the full-time whistle put St Johnstone caretaker manager Andy Kirk and his team out of their misery.
Several Serie A clubs are interested in Casadei, with Lazio already making an £11.5 million bid, per Gianluca Di Marzio.Since joining Chelsea in 2023, Casadei has made only 17 appearances and had loan spells at Reading and Leicester City. To fill the gap in the squad, Chelsea is pushing to sign Hellas Verona's Reda Belahyane for £12.6 million.Belahyane has made 20 appearances in Serie A ...
The Gunners want to sign a new attacker to lead their attack, someone who is more prolific than their current options at the club.While Kai Havertz has regained his form by scoring two goals in the last two games, against Aston Villa and Dinamo Zagreb, there is a need for a lethal presence in front of goal for Mikel Arteta's team.The long term injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus has made matter worse...
Premier Injuries still say it will be months before the England international returns to the Gunners first-team, so there is a real need for Mikel Arteta to get his feet wet in terms of transfers this month.Arsenal want Semenyo to replace Bukayo SakaIndeed, Arteta noted the severity of Saka's injury, leaving his side light in the area of the pitch where the 23-year-old does his best work.Wolves' M...
The Red Devils have struggled in front of goal this season with both their strikers; Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee failing to make an impact this season.Both of them have scored a combined five Premier League goals this season and their poor form is one of the main reasons why they are having a disastrous season.As they search for a new striker in the transfer market, they have identified Lill...
Oleksandr Zinchenko is expected to leave Arsenal before the January transfer window shuts with Borussia Dortmund ready to make a move for the left-back.Dortmund are in the market for a new left-back and are believed to have put Zinchenko at the top of their wanted list after missing out on Chelsea's Renato Veiga.Chelsea have agreed to allow Veiga to move to Juventus on loan for the rest of the sea...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Man Utd 2-1 Ranger last night lolRuben Amorim I'm running out of Oil money Josko Gvardiol (22) is currently younger than Phil Foden (24) This I understand rodrygo bc i would try to impress her every game too Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, FootballLaughss, PL__OOC)...
MANCHESTER UNITED fans made jokes at their club's expense after taking a look at Amad's dodgy training kit.United have had troubles on and off the pitch this season.Amad Diallo's training top featured an upside-down crestThey are 13th in the Premier League table having lost 10 of their 22 league games, with Ruben Amorim even smashing a TV following their defeat to Brighton at the weekend.Off the p...
Liverpool icon Mohamed Salah is known as "the Egyptian King"Manchester City have completed the signing of Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £65m deal - with their announcement on social media amusing fans of rivals Liverpool. Egyptian striker Marmoush has agreed a contract that will keep him at the Etihad until 2029. The move will take City's spending to almost £150m in the las...
Ronald Araujo has signed a new contract with Barcelona, committing to the Catalan club until 2031 and ending any lingering doubt over his future.The 25-year-old's previous contract was due to expire in 2026 and he had drawn interest from Juventus, among other sides, this month.However, ESPN revealed recently that a meeting with sporting director Deco had convinced him to stay.Araujo put pen to pap...
Enciso, 21, swapped the Amex Stadium for Portman Road after completing a loan move that will see him playing for the Tractor Boys until the end of the season.Manchester United tried to hijack Brighton ace Julio Enciso's loan move to IpswichAccording to Versus, however, United targeted the playmaker during the winter market.The same source claims the Red Devils saw the Paraguay international as a p...
- 1 Benjamin Sesko has already said yes to Arsenal
- 2 Rashford's turbulent winter from Serie A links to 'Love Island romance'
- 3 Man City £190m transfer spree
- 4 Joao Felix eyed by ‘very interested club’
- 5 Ex-Bundesliga star's WAG has intimate tattoo of footballer husband
- 6 Shaun Murphy copies Lionel Messi as he sleeps with Masters trophy
- 7 Teen arrested after shock abuse against Kai Havertz's wife Sophia
- 8 Daily Laugh - Chelsea 's back !!
- 9 Man Utd 'consider Jack Grealish transfer'
- 10 Mourinho makes drastic career change and launches 'The Special One' wine