Celtic Player Ratings v St. Johnstone

St. Johnstone were the visitors to Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon as the Bhoys put on a show in the Celtic Park sunshine. 

It was arguably the best performance we’ve ever seen from Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side with phenomenal performances all over the pitch in the 7-0 win. 

Here are my player ratings from the match. 

Joe Hart - 7/10

He had next to nothing to do against the worst attacking side in the league. Nonetheless, Joe Hart kept yet another clean sheet between the sticks for Celtic. 

Josip Juranovic - 9/10

The Croatian full back disclosed his vast quality to all once again with his performance this afternoon. Juranovic covered the right channel well and held his nerve to convert from the sport early in the second half. Moreover, the twenty six year old played a part in the build up for Matt O’Riley’s first goal and also laid off the Dane for his second. The right back position is surely Juranovic’s to lose. 

Cameron Carter-Vickers - 8/10

Similarly to the whole of the Celtic backline, Carter-Vickers was untroubled. The American built up play from the back amply but was unable to add to the goal he got at Ibrox last week when Celtic were in full-flow going forward. 

Carl Starfelt - 8/10

In almost identical fashion to his centre back partner, Carl Starfelt defended when required yet also helped build up attacks. Starfelt continues to prove his worth to this Celtic team in spite of some early criticism. 

Greg Taylor - 8/10

Greg Taylor followed up an immense performance at Ibrox last week with another adequate display today. The Scottish full back showed vibrance going forward, setting up Reo Hatate for Celtic’s opener. Taylor looks to have nailed down the left back spot at Celtic now after starting there for the seventh consecutive time today. 

Callum McGregor - 8/10

The Celtic captain controlled the midfield in the holding role and will undoubtedly be disappointed with the fact he was unable to contribute with any attacking returns. Even still, McGregor put in another sufficient display and was replaced by James McCarthy on the seventy fourth minute. 

Reo Hatate - 8/10

The Japanese midfielder opened the scoring early on, sweeping home with his left foot from inside the eighteen yard box. Hatate looked like the player we seen in his early stages at Celtic today and also won the penalty which Josip Juranovic converted. The twenty four year old was brought off just before the hour mark after putting in optimum effort once more. 

Tom Rogic - 6/10

The Australian midfielder was unable to significantly influence the match in the forty five minutes he played. Rogic scored at Ibrox last week but couldn’t repeat the feat against St. Johnstone this afternoon after being subbed off at half time. 

Jota - 7/10

Jota set up Daizen Maeda for Celtic’s third with a characteristically sublime cross. The Portuguese didn’t get on scoresheet but his overall contributions today were still valuable. 

Georgios Giakoumakis - 7/10

Rather worryingly, Georgios Giakoumakis had to be withdrawn through injury just before the half hour mark. However, that wasn’t without him getting his goal when he pounced upon a moment of madness in the St. Johnstone backline to finish from a tight angle. The extent of Giakoumakis’ injury is currently unknown but with Kyogo Furuhashi getting back to fitness and Daizen Maeda in the team, Celtic certainly have ample replacements available for the twenty seven year old. 

Daizen Maeda - 9/10

As ever, Daizen Maeda’s pressing was phenomenal. The Japanese was a thorn in the side of St. Johnstone’s defenders all afternoon and got his goal in the first half, heading home from a delightful Jota cross. The attacker switched between the flanks and central position in the frontline and was able to assist Liel Abada late on, chesting down for the Israeli to fire home from close range. The signing of Maeda appears to be  yet another splendid one from Ange Postecoglou. 

Substitutes 

Five substitutes were made by Ange Postecoglou this afternoon, the first of which saw Liel Abada come on for the injured Giorgos Giakoumakis. The Israeli predominantly operated on the right hand side and netted Celtic’s seventh of the afternoon, a goal he probably deserved in the end. Abada was full of life and now has ten league goals this season, just three behind top scorer Regan Charles-Cook. 

At half time, Tom Rogic was replaced in the advanced midfield role by Matt O’Riley. This change proved to be a master-stroke from Postecoglou with the twenty one year old bagging a brace. His first epitomised the style of play Celtic currently implement - some terrific build up play was followed by a great cross from David Turnbull and O’Riley came crashing in to nod home. His second was a much more cultured effort as Josip Juranovic feed him up to bend into the top left corner splendidly. 

The depth in Celtic’s midfield right now is the strongest it has been in a long while. This was then proved with the introduction of David Turnbull on the fifty fifth minute. As mentioned, he helped set up Matt O’Riley’s first goal and it appears Ange Postecoglou does not want to throw the twenty two year old in at the deep end just yet, building up his fitness gradually. 

The same could be said for Kyogo Furuhashi who came on to a rousing roar from the Celtic support with just over fifteen minutes to play. The striker made his return from a gruelling hamstring injury but couldn’t get a goal that would’ve made Celtic’s afternoon even better. Nevertheless, he can be happy with his contributions, playing a lovely ball over the top of the St. Johnstone defence which led to Liel Abada’s goal. 

The final Celtic player who came on from the bench was James McCarthy. The Irishman was rather uninspiring and could’ve easily caused a goal against his side when he carelessly gave the ball away in his own half however his mistake went unpunished. 

Rounding Off

Marvellous, wonderful, sensational - these are just a few adjectives that could sum up Celtic’s performance today. 

Ange Postecoglou’s side put in a display that was arguably one of the greatest of his reign thus far. As well as a nine point lead (for Saturday night at least), Celtic are also up a colossal 23 goals on goal difference on their city rivals Rangers in second place. 

For Celtic, they have just over a week of preparation prior to the Scottish Cup semi final with the Ibrox club next week. The Gers meanwhile, have to travel to St. Mirren on Sunday at noon with the pressure firmly on them to close the gap at the top of the league while also having to play their Europa League quarter final second leg with Braga on Thursday evening. 

Shifting focus back to Celtic and it is certainly an exciting time to be a supporter of the club. The treble is firmly on however I’m sure Ange Postecoglou will be taking it one game at a time. 

Thank you for reading this article. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog for more Celtic and Scottish football content.